The Dragon Overlord
by George J. Valtom
Summary: The freak. The runt. The weird one. All his life, Hiccup's been looked down on. And when even his father turns his back on him, he finally leaves. After hatching a plan to win the village's esteem, though, Hiccup accidentally finds himself the new leader of the dragons - and feared by everyone he knows. But he's still determined to gain their respect, one way or another...
1. Departure

"He who is skilled in attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven."

Sun Tzu's _The Art of War_

* * *

><p>"Dad please, I promise you, you can't win this one!"<p>

Hiccup watched in horror as Stoick strode towards the door. Everything had spiraled so horribly out of control: the village thought him a freak again, his best friend was in chains, and now his dad was walking towards certain death. It had all gone so very, very wrong...and Stoick was still walking.

"Dad, no...!" He hesitated, then ran up and tried to grab at his father's arm. "For once in your life, would you please just _listen_ to me?"

Stoick turned and shoved his son back, tossing him to the floor. Hiccup looked up as he began to go through the door. Then he paused, and turned to face Hiccup. His face was severe, and his voice even more so.

"You've thrown your lot in with _them_. You're not a Viking..."

He shook his head.

"You're not my son."

Stoick didn't wait to see the look on Hiccup's face before finally leaving.

"Ready the ships!"

As he hollered the order out to the village, though, he stopped, as the bitter words he had just uttered caught up to him. For a second he stood there, wondering if he'd gone too far...but he took a deep breath, and continued down to the docks.

Hiccup waited for him to leave, then ran down to the docks along his own path.

* * *

><p>"Come on, get the weapons down here!"<p>

The docks bustled with activity as boat after boat cast into the harbor, their furled sails waiting to be opened.

"Careful." Stoick warned as the Night Fury was roped into place. The dragon put up a tough fight, but was simply overpowered by all the men around it. With its mouth buckled shut with a strap of tough leather, the creature also couldn't use its fire, making it perfectly manageable - with a team effort, of course. "Get the collar on it, now!"

Two men grabbed a large wooden collar, chained to the board that the Night Fury sat on, and began trying to clamp it around the dragon's neck.

"Just do it fast, then it won't-"

"RAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Stoick turned and saw Hiccup charging down the dock, wielding an axe that must have weighed as much as he did. The boy's face was twisted in a desperate, yet fierce cry as he raced towards the dragon.

"Hiccup! What are you-"

He swung the axe down, prompting the men holding down the Night Fury to jerk away, and sliced one of the ropes in two. The dragon quickly recoiled from the collar being held up to it, and the boy scrambled up into the saddle.

"Hiccup, wait!" Stoick saw what was about to happen. "Wait, don't!"

It was too late. There was a _whoosh _as the wings opened and beat down, already propelling the two high into the air.

"No no no, don't shoot!" He saw some men aiming their crossbows. "You'll hit Hiccup!"

Stoick was powerless to watch as his son flew away.

* * *

><p>Hiccup's rage quickly cooled, despite his attempt to keep it stoked, and he found himself staring back at Berk as it slowly shrank behind him.<p>

A muffled groan from Toothless caught his attention back.

"Sorry bud, hold on." With great caution, he managed to slip the leather buckle from the dragon's head. He was about to let it fall, but realized it could be useful later.

_After all, I'm not going to be back in Berk any time soon._

The truth slowly gripped him, and his breath came heavier and heavier. After this little stunt, any hope of a normal life on the isle was gone, and for that matter any kind of life. Surely they would all despise him, revile him. The boy who actually _freed_ a dragon, the maniac who thought there could be peace, the kid with the Night Fury...he would never be Hiccup again.

_Oh, too bad. Because being Hiccup was just so much fun, wasn't it?_

And with that came a flood of unpleasant memories of humiliation, fifteen years worth of it. He tried his best to blot it out - and only ended up thinking about it more. He growled and shook his head.

Toothless looked back, concerned about his human. He could tell something was troubling the boy...

Hiccup finally sighed. "Don't worry, I'm fine." He patted the top of the dragon's head. "I'll be fine, let's just...let's do some flying practice, that always gets us into higher spirits. Ready?" He shifted the tailfin, and the two dived towards the ocean. The wind whistled in Hiccup's ears as they plummeted, then leveled out. They skimmed just above the water's surface, the rolling sea forming melting hills and drifting valleys below them. Toothless followed the contours of the ocean, rising or falling with the waves, and Hiccup's stomach followed.

For a short glorious time, they were one. United. Not two separate creatures, but a single being that cooperated with itself flawlessly. The rushing speed, the climbing and dipping of the flight, the occasional playful plunge into the water - it was unreal, and into this unreality Hiccup escaped.

The sun sank lower in the sky the more they flew, and soon it was dusk, the sky turning a shade of brilliant orange.

"We better start thinking about dinner," Hiccup said, half to himself. "Come on, let's go fishing."

A short while later, the two were sitting atop a large stone stack, with a small fire blazing courtesy of Toothless. A large pile of fish sat nearby, also courtesy of Toothless, who of course spared a couple for Hiccup, thankfully without swallowing and regurgitating them first. The boy only accepted a single one, however. He didn't feel very hungry.

As Hiccup roasted his fish over the fire, his mind again couldn't help but drift back to those times in Berk. He mulled over now-distant memories, where he'd been cooking his dinner around an open pit, with everyone crowded around him, and also talking around him. Never a voice of concern or curiosity for the world of Hiccup. No, it was always "Who killed the biggest dragon?" or "What's the best axe to throw to kill a dragon?" or "Which body parts did you lose to a dragon as you tried to kill it?" It seemed that that was all Berk knew how to do, kill dragons. No wonder his plan had failed so spectacularly! Couldn't ask for deafer ears for-

"Ow!"

In his introspection, Hiccup hadn't noticed his fish dipping closer and closer towards the flame, where it had finally caught fire and burned to his fingertips. Now the animal lay in the fire, its silvery scales blackening as it burned. Toothless saw what had happened, took another of his own fish in his teeth, and tossed it over.

"Thanks bud." He skewered the second fish, this time keeping a closer eye on it. The dragon went back to his own dinner. "I guess I just have so much going through my mind right now. I was..." He shook his head. "I don't know what I was trying to do, trying to change seven generations of dragon slaying. I mean, no one even liked me! I don't know why I thought they'd listen to me. I guess it was just a stupid, crazy idea." He suddenly chuckled. "Yeah, get ready to be dragged into a lot of those with me."

Toothless paused long enough from eating to cast a soft look at Hiccup, purring contentedly. Night had fallen, but the warm flicker of the fire illuminated the dragon more than well enough. Hiccup smiled back.

"I guess the only thing I'll really miss is Astrid. I mean, we got to her! She wasn't afraid of you in the end, and she actually began to treat me like...well, like I existed. If only we could somehow convince everyone like we did with her...but I guess we can't drop all villagers into treetops, can we? I just...she would have been perfect." He stared wistfully into the fire, and mostly kept his silence after that.

Both finally finished their meals, and in the dying light of the fading embers, Hiccup laid down on the grassy, yet hard surface of the stack. Toothless came over and wrapped his tail around the boy to keep him warm.

"Thanks." Silence for a moment. "You know, if I had to choose between my old life and you-" _If I had to? Really? _"-I'm glad I chose you."

With that, Hiccup closed his eyes and tried to rest. But all night, his mind kept returning to Berk. He was returning, and voices jeered from every corner.

_Where did Hiccup go wrong?_

_He showed up!_

_He didn't get eaten!_

__Well, I can show my face in public again!__

___They'll see you as sick or insane and go after the more viking-like teens instead.___

_____Oh great, who let him in?_____

_You're not a viking._

_You're not my son._


	2. Facing the Queen

Hiccup's eyes flew open. His breath came quickly, and his face slowly brightened into a smile. Sitting up, he glanced around at Toothless, who was still sleeping.

"That's it..." he whispered to himself. "That's how I'll get them to understand!"

Several minutes later, Toothless finally woke to find Hiccup scrawling on a bare patch of rock, using the charcoal from the fire.

"Hey, you're up!" Hiccup stood and clenched his fists close with excitement. "Listen, I know what we can do to finally convince the village, for real this time."

At this, the dragon grumbled with suspicion. He narrowed his eyes and backed away a step.

"No no no, we're not going back, not yet. But I realized something this morning: we tried to approach this the wrong way. Instead of convincing Berk that the dragons aren't evil first, we should kill the queen who's making the dragons steal food in the first place!"

Toothless realized what Hiccup meant when he said "the queen", and he gave a shiver and a grumble.

"It's alright, it's alright, I've been thinking for a while, and I'm pretty sure I have a good plan. Here, I'll show you:"

* * *

><p>Hours later, they flew to the lip of the volcano's crater. Leaning over, Hiccup could see the red glow of magma far below. The heat brushed into his face, and he quickly recoiled. Up above, the clouds had gathered and darkened, as if the sky itself anticipated the coming conflict.<p>

"Okay bud, just like we planned, ready?"

He adjusted himself on the saddle, making sure he was secure. If he ever needed to trust his own handiwork, it would be over the next few minutes. He took a deep breath.

"Go!"

Toothless fired a blast deep into the abyss, and they heard it explode far, far down.

Silence.

"Okay, back up, back up..."

A terrible howl sounded from the heart of the mountain, ripping the silence apart. The rocks shivered, and Hiccup felt even his core quake at the roar. This was followed by shrieks and squawks, then hundreds of wings flapping.

"Here they come!"

The two watched as the mountain erupted with dozens of dragons. Monstrous Nightmares, Nadders, Gronckles, Zipplebacks - they all fled, trying to escape the oncoming battle. The rocks lurched, and another roar rent the air.

"Let's go, now!"

Toothless took off, soaring into the air. Down below, the side of the volcano gave way, rocks and trees and dust falling in a landslide. The top of a massive scaly head appeared, shaking off the boulders.

"There it is! Let's go, take us in close!"

Toothless hovered for a moment in the air, angled himself, then dived towards the Red Death. The massive dragon looked up, only to get a plasma blast right on the left side of its face. The duo whizzed over its head, and rocketed back into the sky.

"Well, we got its attention." Hiccup scanned the queen's body for any sign of a weak point. The head was pretty well armored, as well was the tail...and everything in between. "Let's try the eyes. Take us down, bud!"

The Night Fury gave another dive, becoming more and more emboldened the longer it defied the queen's authority. Hiccup could feel the confidence radiating from the reptile as the two plunged again. For the second time in as many days, his stomach fell far behind him. The wind tore at his hair and screamed in his ears as they flew.

Toothless gave another blast, this time on the right side of the dragon's face. The queen staggered from the impact, howling in rage and pain. Staring after the two, it spread its wings to take off. Toothless banked in a wide curve, turning Hiccup just enough so he could see the Red Death taking off, the wide wings lifting it into the air.

"Here she comes! Try the eyes again."

Another plasma blast, and again the queen's head jerked back as the Night Fury and his rider zoomed overhead. Hiccup could tell, however, that they were not inflicting any serious damage; on the contrary, the Red Death only seemed more infuriated than ever, and now it chased after them. It opened its mouth to give another roar, and Hiccup stared at the teeth, longer than he was tall - then suddenly, his mind snapped back a few days, to the tug-of-war between Toothless and the Terrible Terror, and how his dragon was able to fend off the annoying creature with a single well-aimed shot.

"The mouth!" He screamed to be heard over the rushing wind, which ripped his voice from his mouth almost before he could speak. "Aim for its mouth!" Toothless darted ahead, then twisted his body around before launching himself and Hiccup at the leviathan dragon. Hiccup could only hear the wind howling, the scream as the Night Fury closed in, and the furious bellow of the queen.

The plasma launched, and exploded against the top of the Red Death's maw. The queen faltered in her wingbeats, and fell against the ground with a mighty crash. She struggled back to her feet, and watching the Night Fury fly overhead, she let loose a torrent of searing fire, high into the air.

"Woah, watch it!" The two flew up high, well out of the reach of the flames. "Last thing we want is your tailfin catching."

Hiccup watched as again, the queen lifted into the air. He knew that Toothless only had one of his six shots left - they had to make it count.

"Hold on, bud!" Toothless pulled up short, beating his wings to hover in the air. "Let's meet her eye to eye..."

They turned and watched as the Red Death came towards them, eyes sparking with rage. It opened its mouth, ready to roast them for daring to challenge her. Her mouth filled with gas, ready to ignite-

"Now!"

Toothless fired his last shot, sparking the vapor as it still filled the queen's throat, and igniting the glands that it poured from. Again, the giant roared - not from anger, this time, but from pain. Fire began to consume it from the inside out, and for the last time the Red Death fell back upon the earth. It rolled over once, then was still.

Hiccup watched from his dragon's back as the queen went through its death throes. "Hoh..." He gasped as it finally stopped moving. "Oh, we did it! We did it, bud!"

Hiccup laughed with the nervous chuckle of someone who brushed with death, and emerged unscathed.

"Oh, this fixes everything! We go back, tell them we brought down the queen and that you helped me, and we're in the clear!"

He shifted the tailfin, and the two descended to the ground, where Hiccup hopped off the saddle and looked up at the massive body, lying on its side with a single great wing still pointing into the air. No living thing made a sound for a long time - only the wind, whistling a warning of a coming storm, and the waves, relentlessly striking the pebbly beach, offered a soundtrack for the grim scene. Eventually, Toothless gave a suspicious growl to the dead queen.

"Don't worry, she's not going to bother anyone anymore. No dragons, and definitely no humans." Even with that said, though, Hiccup took great caution in approaching it. Suddenly, he felt himself yanked backwards by his shirt collar. Gaining his footing again, Hiccup turned to find Toothless looking at him with great fear in his eyes. The Night Fury hissed at the body, and tried to wrap his tail around the boy, keeping him from going any closer.

"We gotta have something to prove what we did."

Hiccup took the tail and moved it over his head, and he kept walking. Soon he placed his hand on the queen's foot, and felt along one of her toes for-

"Here we go!" He exclaimed in a whisper, without knowing why. One of the scales was loose, all he had to do was pry it off and carry it home as a trophy, and all would be well. Hiccup took it in his hand, and yanked. It peeled up a bit more, but still stuck fast. "Come on..." He tightened his grip, and yanked again. A little more, but still stuck. This time, he gripped with both hands and pulled, keeping up the effort until, finally, it snapped. He fell backwards, clutching the scale in his hand.

"Got it!" He turned around and called to Toothless, waving his prize in his hand. He began to stand up. "Come on, let's get out of-"

There was a loud bluster, as the wind suddenly gusted. Hiccup felt his hair fly over his head as the sudden crackle of gravel being disturbed caught his ear. Turning around, he glanced up as the queen's wing caught the air - and began to tilt the entire body over, right atop him.

"Oh no..." He began to run, Toothless crying out in despair as his human tried to flee the oncoming titanic weight which threatened to crush him. "No no no no NO NO NO NO NO-"

There was a deafening cacophony. A pain unlike any he had felt.

Then blissful nothingness.


	3. Unexpected Consequences

_Hey, I want to take a moment to thank everyone who's enjoying this. I've never had such an overwhelming response to a story before! It's your positive feedback that motivates us writers, and I like I said, I just want to say thank you._

* * *

><p>"Unnnhhhhh..."<p>

Hiccup's senses only returned to him one by one. First, touch: he lay flat on his back, against some hard rugged surface, with the cold biting at his hands. And his leg...his left leg was sore.

Now, as if emerging from water, he heard sounds muffled and distorted, slowly growing clearer. Groans and squawks and growls and snorts, in every direction.

Now he opened his eyes, just a sliver at first. He saw for a moment his room on Berk, from the perspective of his bed, with the wooden beams criss-crossing the ceiling. Opening wider, his eyes dispelled the hallucination - he lay on the rocks, below a grey dreary sky, surrounded by-

"Ohhhhh boy." He leaned up on his elbows as he stared at the circle of dragons that had formed around him. Dozens of them, of every species, had gathered around to watch the strange human wake up.

"Toothless?" He called out. The Night Fury came around from behind him, gave a quick sniff, making sure his boy was alright. "There you are, didn't see you at first." Hiccup tried getting to his feet. "Aw bud, what hap-"

Hiccup's left foot suddenly seared with pain, and with a yell he stumbled forward as it gave out. Putting his hands out to stop his fall only served to skin his palms. He gave a few shuddering gasps and screwed his eyes shut. Toothless came around beside him, concerned that his human had hurt himself more. Already, though, the agony died away, and Hiccup opened his eyes again.

Now he saw the Red Death, which had rolled over onto its front. There was a dark crimson blotch on one of its claws where it had stabbed into...something. A trail, also crimson, led from it, as if the same something had been dragged away. His eyes followed the trail as it approached him, then went under him, and now he turned himself over to look at his leg.

"Oh gods..." Hiccup grimaced and turned away, not wanting to see what remained of his left foot. His guts suddenly flipped, and he heaved violently to the side. Nothing came out, thank goodness - he realized already the strength he'd need to survive this.

"Ohhhhkay." He shivered from his shock, but he tried to recollect, as best as he could, what to do. Amputated limbs were common in Berk, and it was fairly common knowledge on how to perform the procedure safely. He only had one small problem: he wasn't in Berk, and nowhere near the supplies he needed to complete the gruesome task ahead of him.

Toothless watched as his boy kept glancing around, looking for something it seemed. Curious, he bent his head down beside Hiccup's, trying to see if a better perspective would help him understand.

Hiccup broke from his mental panic, and gave a half-hearted laugh as he rubbed the top of the dragon's head. "Hey, you did good bud. You saved me." _Just not all of me_, he added to himself. Given this relief from his thoughts, however, he was free again to notice the dragons that surrounded him. They watched both the Night Fury and the boy with intense concentration, noting their every movement, like they were expecting something.

He made eye contact with a Monstrous Nightmare at the edge of the circle. The dragon tilted his head, and began to crawl closer. Toothless snarled a warning.

"No no, it's okay." Hiccup stretched out his hand. "It's okay..."

The Monstrous Nightmare gave the hand a sniff, gave one more look to the boy, then pressed his snout against Hiccup's palm. The sign of trust and respect.

Now other dragons began to crowd around. Hiccup glanced around, and extended his other hand. One by one, it seemed every dragon wished to convey its trust and loyalty in the boy. A dawning realization came over him as his fingers rested on snout after snout.

"We defeated their queen..." He glanced at Toothless. "That means we're their leader now!" One more step of logic. "And if you rely on me to fly, then that means, I'm..." His eyes grew wide as his new status washed over him, his hands still passing from dragon to dragon, follower to follower.

Gradually, all the dragons had their turn, and they now sat again in a wide circle, expecting some kind of command. Before Hiccup could think of anything to say, however, a sudden pang of hunger put its message forward very clearly.

"Hey Toothless, could you grab a fish for dinner? Heh, nothing like becoming a dragon king and losing your leg in the process to work up an appetite, huh?" He gave Toothless a caress on the top of his head, and the dragon walked to the water. The other dragons, realizing that the Night Fury could understand the boy's request, followed, leaving Hiccup alone to consider his leg.

Being in charge of the dragons surely was a nice perk, but it scarcely helped him in his current predicament. He doubted that either Nadders or Gronckles were skilled in medicine, and he didn't particularly relish the idea of a Monstrous Nightmare trying to amputate his leg. Dragon fire could perhaps be useful for cauterizing afterwards, but before he reached that point he'd need something to make a clean cut. The closest he had was his small dagger, which he knew was not wide or heavy enough to be satisfactory. And on top of that, he needed a prosthetic to actually utilize later. For both of those purposes, the removal and the replacement, he would need something metallic, which was out of the question at the moment. As for cutting off circulation...a quick scan over his inventory reminded him of the leather buckle that the vikings had used to seal Toothless' jaw closed. He pulled it from his vest pocket, and sat it by his side. At least he had something, a start if nothing else.

Hiccup was so engrossed in his morbid plans that he didn't hear the terrific chaos ensuing at the water, and didn't notice anything odd at all until Toothless returned.

"Oh!" He broke from his trance as a nice silver fish was plopped into his lap. "Hey, thanks, looks great!" There was nothing to build a fire with, though, so Hiccup began to steel himself for a raw meal - and promptly had three more fish piled next to him. "What?"

Looking up in confusion, he saw that every dragon had taken his request as a personal responsibility, and now they returned with mouthfuls of fish.

"Well, at least I'm not going to go hungry while I'm here."

As his pile began to grow larger, however, he began to worry about potentially being buried beneath his mound of offerings.

"Wait, wait!" His tone got the dragons' attention. "Uhh..." How he wished they could understand plain Norse! "I'm full!" He held his hand under his chin to indicate his fullness, and paired all of his words with hand signals. "No more fish, no more fish. You have them, you eat too!"

Thankfully, they understood, and some immediately gulped down their catch. Hiccup could hardly believe that his communication was successful, and also that they were so eager to please him. All at once, a crazy idea entered his mind.

"Listen, close! Listen!" He gestured for everyone to gather around. "Bring." He motioned grabbing his chest with both hands. "Bring me, metal." He slowly reached into his vest pocket and pulled out his dagger. At this, every dragon instinctively flinched backwards and growled. "Yes, bad, bad metal! But I need some." He slowly set it beside him, where his pile of fish had been. "Bring me metal."

He hesitated, squeezed his eyes shut, then pointed in the direction of Berk.

"Bring me metal, please."

The dragons cried their assent, and all except Toothless flew off. The sun set low on the horizon, silhouetting them. Black wings against fiery red.

* * *

><p>Astrid gazed at the whole chicken leg on her wooden plate. She picked it up by the bone, twirled it around. She sighed, put it back down so the bone stuck out to the other side of the plate.<p>

"Hey Astrid!" Gobber came over and sat by her. "What's the matter? You're usually through your secon' leg by now."

"I dunno." She sighed as she set her leg twirling again, soon to be realigned on the plate once more. "There's just been a lot of crazy stuff happening lately." She looked away.

"Aye, I was s'prised as you were." He took a hearty drink from the jug attached to his prosthetic hand, and wiped the froth from his mustache. "I mean, the boy was always a bit odd, but tryin' to make peace with the dragons?! Now that's just outright loony! I mean-"

"He was not," Astrid's fist slammed on the table, "a loony." Her sullen melancholy had given way to the quiet but potent anger of offense. "He knew what he was talking about, but no one listened to him."

"But a Night Fury? I mean, no one even survives lookin' at one!"

"Well he did! And I-" Astrid caught herself. She hadn't told anyone that she had been on Toothless, and at the moment she preferred things to stay that way. "And I am sure he knew what he was doing."

"You know," Gobber took another drink before continuing, "you've been actin' funny since he left. I mean, a few days ago you were gearin' up to be the best dragon killer in Berk! And now, you've lost all of that."

Astrid said nothing, she just returned to twirling her chicken leg.

"I'll tell ya what I've lost, though: my apprentice! No one to help me at the shop! I just pray to Odin we don't get a dragon attack before I can replace-"

There was a crash outside, and the familiar cry: "Dragons!"

Everyone in main hall leapt to action, but Gobber took enough time to look up and say with a disgusted scowl, "Thanks a lot, Odin."

"Get the torches raised!" "Protect the flocks!" "Man the catapults!"

Astrid got swept up by the crowd as they rushed about, grabbing weapons. Out of habit, she ran back to her hut and grabbed her axe. Instead of immediately charging outside, however, she hesitated. _Dragons are not mindless animals_, she reminded herself. _If you don't attack them, then you'll be fine._

_Unless someone else gets them angry. Or if they're looking for something you have._

She settled on a defensive approach: she'd watch outside her own house, but only fight if any dragons tried to come near.

With the sounds of battle echoing outside, Astrid opened her door and held her axe at the ready.

All of the fighting was distant, so she relaxed a bit, and began to patrol around her house.

The Deadly Nadder pounced on her from behind.

"Augh!" She was pinned to the ground, luckily able to throw her axe in time to keep it from impaling her. "Oh no, no no, this is it!"

The dragon released her immediately.

Astrid scrambled to her hands and knees, going for her weapon. But the Nadder got it first. She watched as the dragon took the wooden handle in its beak, spread its wings, and immediately flew off.

"What..." Astrid stayed on the ground, watching with heavy breaths as the Nadder escaped with her weapon. "What does..."

Across the island, vikings rushed into battle only to find their swords and axes and shields ripped from their hands. Gobber, unexpectedly, found his own shop the most besieged building on the isle that night.

Not a single sheep was missing the next morning.

* * *

><p>Hiccup counted it among his good fortunes that the dragons had managed to snag a hammer in their - he didn't want to call it a "raid". Scavenging, that's what they were doing.<p>

He had managed to drag himself over to a flat rock to use as a makeshift anvil. With the help of the Nadders' fire, a pair of swords warped and melded into a suitable prosthetic. Hiccup spent a couple of days making sure it was just the right length, at the same time figuring out exactly where to make his cut.

These couple of days were also necessary mental preparation. Hiccup knew he couldn't put off the deed much longer, though.

Once his leg was finished, he gave a shuddering sigh.

"Toothless," he offered a metal shield, "can you heat a small circle here, that I can use for...afterwards?"

The Night Fury could sense his human's apprehension, and had to be prompted twice to perform the task. While that was being prepared, Hiccup rolled up his pant leg to his knee, revealing where he had marked earlier, in charcoal, where he needed the incision to be. He took the buckle and wrapped it just below his knee, as tight as he could pull. Then tighter.

The dragons grew uneasy, not as perceptive as Toothless, but with a general sense of foreboding.

Hiccup's hands trembled now as he reached for an axe handle, the head removed so that it was just a plain old stick. He stuck it in between his teeth, his breath coming hard. A pause, was Toothless done? He was, and a bright yellow spot glowed in the otherwise dull shield.

"Uhkay," Hiccup's voice was muffled by the wood. With his tremulous hands, he picked up the axe head that paired with the handle. The handle without its weapon, the head without its wielder.

A deep breath.

He placed the edge of the axe along the mark.

A deep breath.

Stop a second, wipe the sweat from his brow.

A deep breath, shuddering.

He raised the head.

Toothless looked away.


	4. Welcome Home

Careful. Careful now.

All of the dragons gathered around to watch as Hiccup began to shift his weight onto the prosthetic for the first time. How strange it was, to no longer feel his heel against the ground. As he tried to establish his balance, he held on to the top of Toothless' head. The Night Fury watched patiently as his boy managed to assume some stability in his posture.

Hiccup took a deep breath. He let go of his grip, and took a step forward with his good leg - more of a limp, really. Toothless came around beside him, watching for any need of intervention. Hiccup now tried taking a step with his new leg, and stumbled forward with a cry. The Night Fury quickly caught him, however, and Hiccup clung to him.

"Hoh, thanks bud." He got back on his feet, and tried again. All of the dragons watched as he slowly became more and more sure of his step.

Soon Hiccup was practicing with longer distances, walking from one dragon to the other - from Toothless to the Monstrous Nightmare, from the Nightmare to the Deadly Nadder, from the Nadder to the Hideous Zippleback, and from there back to Toothless. If he ever stumbled or fell, they were there to catch him, to support him as he regained his composure.

They were there for him.

The limp gradually faded from his gait, and he began to take on more challenging endeavors. Toothless accompanied him on a spelunking trip into the mountain, all the way down to the magma pool that the Red Death had lived in. After returning from that, and a day of rest, he decided to take a walking tour around the coast of the island, spending three days on the journey. This time, he was joined by his - he didn't know what to call it. His horde? His flock? And soon, it wasn't the label of his group that perplexed him, so much as the fact that it was _his_ group.

The realization had not yet ceased to astonish him. The dragons treated him as a hero, the one who freed them from the grasp of the Red Death, and they were more than happy to follow his lead. How different from his place on Berk.

Berk...

"You know Toothless," he knelt on the beach, staring across the water, "I can't stop thinking about home."

The dragon lay beside him, and warbled as he tilted his head in curiosity. He followed Hiccup's stare to the horizon, then looked back.

"I mean, you know what it was like, you saw. But, I dunno..." He picked up a small stone, and stood up. "I guess you spend fifteen years growing up someplace, you're bound to miss it when you leave." He leaned a bit, and flicked the stone onto the ocean. It skipped twice before sinking beneath the surface.

Hiccup kept staring, and felt the breeze blow in his face. He slowly shook his head. "I have to go back."

Toothless grumbled his annoyance, and let his eyelids drop to express his disapproval.

"Don't worry, we'll be more careful, and once we tell them that the queen's dead, they'll warm up to you. That was our plan, remember?" But even as he spoke, he knew he was also trying to convince himself.

In the meantime, now that he had remastered walking, he began to rediscover how to operate Toothless' fin. The first problem had been that his prosthetic didn't fit into the foot pedal. Short of a complete rework of the system, though, Hiccup found that simply switching his remaining boot from his right foot to his left solved the problem. In fact, when he did so with his pant leg rolled all the way down, he discovered that it was impossible to tell the foot was missing at all.

The primary issue resolved, Hiccup now only had to grow comfortable again with operating the fin. Luckily, his muscle memory had persisted, and soon the duo were swooping and diving and corkscrewing through the air with more ease than ever. Days kept ticking past, and soon Hiccup realized he could not put off his return any longer. Three weeks after he arrived at the nest, he called all the dragons to him.

"Well guys," he slowly walked around his circular space as everyone watched him, "it's been a fun time, it really has. I mean, taking down the Red Death has really brought us all closer together. But, I'm afraid I have to get going now." He walked over to Toothless and mounted him. "You guys have fun, enjoy your new queen-free nest, and I'll come visit. Let's go."

These last few words were for Toothless, and the two lifted into the air and flew off.

"Alright, when we get back, I am not getting off you until I can get them to understand. I'll explain from the air, try to get everyone to keep calm. They won't shoot you as long as I'm on-"

A sudden squawk to his left interrupted him. Hiccup looked and saw a Deadly Nadder flying beside him. Scratch that. Five Deadly Nadders. Scratch that. Five Deadly Nadders, six Gronckles, a flock of Terrible Terrors...

He looked behind to see that the entire flock had followed him from the island.

"Whoa, whoa!" Hiccup turned Toothless around to face everyone, and all the dragons hovered in place. "No no no no, you go back!" He pointed back at the island. "Go back, you're free! Free!" He motioned his hands in a wide circle above his head. "Go back, you're free! You don't need a king or queen."

Some of the dragons did glance back at the volcano. But none of them moved, and they just watched him even more closely.

"Oh boy." Realizing this was one command they were not going to follow, he turned Toothless around again, and they began pressing forward. "This might complicate a few things."

* * *

><p>"C'mon Astrid, is it done yet?"<p>

"Just give me a second!" She refocused her concentration very closely as the sword ground against wheel. Sparks flew angrily as the blade screamed against the stone, which raced round and round at a dizzying speed. Finally she stopped pedaling, and held the edge up to her eye. "I think I got it!"

Gobber took it from her, gave it his own inspection. He turned it to see from dozens of different perspectives. "Good angle...little nick on the edge here, don' want that..." He gave it a few swings. "Good balance, sturdy...congratulations Astrid! Welcome to the smithy!"

"Awesome! When can I start?"

"Right now!" He snatched a smock from a nearby hook and held it out to her. "We need to get ourselves re-armed before the Berserkers or Outcasts find out the state we're in. No weapons, didn't get new ore until today, and what with Stoick..."

"Yeah, right, right." She quickly threw on the garment, then rushed to the forge. Suddenly, she stopped, and put her hands on the brown sooty smock. "This was Hiccup's, wasn't it?"

"Aye, one size fits all."

She took a moment to remember, to wonder where he was...

"That reminds me..." Gobber interrupted her thoughts. "Although I don't suppose, now that you're my apprentice, I can convince you to return to dragon trainin'?"

"I can't. I-"

"I know, I know. You can't kill the Monstrous Nightmare."

"Gobber, it's more than that."

"No no no, I understand. It's just a pain now, that's all. Hiccup won the Nightmare first, and we know how that turned out. You were runner-up, but now you don't want the privilege either. And now look who I've got left! I'm not lettin' the twins in the cage with a Nightmare!"

As he continued on with his spiel, Astrid used the tongs to pull a long piece of glowing iron from the forge, and she set it on the anvil. She took the hammer, and its falls punctuated her words.

"You know Gobber, have you wondered if maybe we may not have to worry about the dragons anymore?"'

"Aye, here we go again."

"No, but think about it! We haven't had any raids for almost three weeks, not since they came after our weapons."

"I still don' know what that was all about. Have you seen anythin' like it?"

"No."

"Pfft, course you haven't. Been around longer than you have, and I've ne'er seen anythin' like it, so how could you have?"

"Fair point, fair point." She kept hammering at the iron, and it gradually shaped into a blade.

"I swear to Odin though, it will be just our luck, that right at our weakest, the dragons are gonna come back in full force and-"

"Dragons! Dragons, incoming!"

Gobber stared out the window for a second, then looked up at the ceiling again. "Again Odin? What did I ever do to you?"

"Wait, it's daylight though!" Astrid leaned out the window. "They never attack in the daytime!"

"Look out! Night Fury! It's heading for the Great Hall!"

"Night Fury?" Astrid gasped. How many of those could there be? And where there was Toothless, there had to be-

Without bothering to remove her smock, she ran out the door.

"What-Astrid! Astrid, where are you goin'?!" Gobber watched as his new apprentice left. "Aye, she's worse than Hiccup was!"

Astrid sprinted to the Great Hall, where a large crowd was gathering outside. The dragons flew in circles far overhead, and one by one began to land on buildings around the plaza. Towards the center of the area, a Night Fury descended. And riding the Night Fury was exactly who no one expected to see alive again.

"It's Hiccup!" "He's back!" "And he brought the dragons with him!" "Look at that!"

"Everyone!" Hiccup shouted down, and they all quieted. "Clear a spot for me to land, please!"

The sea of people parted, forming a large space for Toothless to set down. The dragon glanced around in suspicion, but Hiccup tried to calm him.

"Whoa, easy bud, easy. I won't let them hurt you again." He then looked up at everyone, and yelled. "Nobody come any closer! And hear me out this time, please!"

The only person who budged was Astrid, trying to elbow her way to the front.

"Now, I know that we've fought dragons for seven generations, but I'm here to tell you that we don't need to do that anymore!" Hiccup looked around as he spoke, including behind him, making sure no one was sneaking up. "They only raided us because their queen commanded them to. I'm here to tell you that we killed that queen!"

Despite the fear of dragons looming overhead, this outrageous nonsense prompted a chuckle from the crowd.

"I'm serious! We killed her three weeks ago, and have you had any raids since then?"

At this, everyone grew silent again. Except Astrid, still fighting her way forward.

"Toothless," he patted the top of his head, "and I worked together. It sounds crazy, I know, but it's possible! Peace is possible."

The dawning realization he hoped to see on their faces did not appear, and he grew nervous.

"I'm asking you to forgive me for leaving, and to accept that dragons are not the monsters you think they are."

No one was answering, and Hiccup was afraid that he was faltering.

"Here, where's my dad? I'll talk to him about it, he'll-"

"Hiccup!"

The familiar voice caught his attention. Looking over, he saw Astrid burst from the mass of people.

"Astrid!" He dismounted as she ran forward. Toothless recognized her, and relaxed as she approached.

"I was so worried about you!" She whispered softly, affection showing in her eyes. Abruptly, she seemed to remember something, and with her face turning to anger punched him in the arm.

"Ow!"

"And that's for scaring me!"

This prompted a furious hiss around her, deafening. Looking up, she saw every dragon glare at her, and they began to climb down from the rooftops. She gasped in panic.

"Oh no, no no!" Hiccup placed himself in front of her, thus diffusing their anger. "She's, uh, that's just what she does. She's weird, I know." He chuckled, put his arm around her back, and gave a playful shake at the shoulder. "See? Buddies."

Astrid watched as they retreated back up, and now stared at Hiccup. "You control them?"

"Uh, yeah, kind of, I guess...it was an accident, really."

"How?"

"Well, uh, after Toothless and I killed their queen, they needed a new one, and apparently I am the successor they chose."

She stared, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Yeah, you should have seen it." Hiccup tried to break up the tension. "Toothless and I were outflying her, dodging her fire, it was really something. In fact, I even ended up losing..."

He caught himself. If he was trying to get back into the village's favor, the last thing they needed was something else to tease him about. And at the moment, with his pant leg down and the shoe on it, his left foot could easily pass as authentic...

"Losing...?"

"My boot!" He pointed at his right foot, still bare. "Lost my boot, it's pretty terrible. But anyways, can I see my dad?"

Astrid bit her lip, then looked down. "Stoick-"

"What are you doing?" The two turned and saw Spitelout emerging now from the crowd, with Snotlout not far behind. Toothless snarled and backed away at his approach.

"Spitelout!" Hiccup went up to him. "Look, it's difficult to explain, but could I just see my dad, and I can-"

"Your father's dead."

Hiccup froze for a moment, his breath catching. "W-what?"

"Three days after you flew off, he left the island. Two weeks went by, he didn't come back. Some of us went out to look for him, and we found his helmet, floating in the water."

"B-b-but maybe he just dropped it! You don't know-"

"The next day, we found his ship. Pierced with arrows along its side, blood stains on the deck. Outcasts, from the look of their arrowheads."

"No...no, oh gods..."

Hiccup sunk to his knees, and Astrid saw him clasp his hands over his eyes, his entire body shivering from the devastating tragedy as he began to weep. It broke her own heart to see the boy in such grief. It was several minutes before he managed to choke out any more words.

"W...why…why did he...leave?"

"He didn't tell us." Spitelout folded his arms and glared down. "But when I demanded an answer, all he told me was 'I'm so ashamed.'"

Hiccup's breath came quicker now, still heaving with sobs, and he looked up at the unforgiving face. Astrid came around and saw him, his features contorting with agony.

"And I think we all know what he was ashamed of. The boy who wouldn't kill a dragon. Imagine, being a chief, and having a son like that."

"Stop." Astrid tried to confront Spitelout as Hiccup began sobbing more. "Stop it, right now. You don't know what you're doing."

"I know perfectly well what I'm doing."

He picked up Hiccup by his shirt collar, prompting a hiss of outrage from Toothless and the other dragons. Astrid tried to block the Night Fury with her body, but he still pushed against her, eager to get at Spitelout.

"You led our chief to his death. You brought the dragons to our village. You're not one of us." He set Hiccup on the ground, but still gripped his shirt. "You may have run away the first time because you chose to. Now, we're telling you. Go back to your dragons!" Spitelout shoved him away, where he sprawled on the ground. "And stay with them!"

With the final word in the matter said, he turned to go back into the Great Hall.

"No."

The voice was small, but so absolutely solid that everyone in the crowd heard it. Spitelout turned around again.

"What did you say?"

"No!" Hiccup got to his feet before Astrid could help him. His eyes still watered, but his face had more outrage than sorrow. "I belong here, just as much as you do, more than you do!" He took a step forward. "I have done more for Berk than you ever have. While you ran around screaming and hacking at things with axes, I found a solution. I made peace with the dragons, and it's not hard for everyone here to do the same thing, if you weren't all so thick about it!"

No one had ever heard such harsh words come from the scrawny boy before. Astrid tried to take his arm. "What are you doing?"

He put his hand on hers, gave a gentle squeeze, then removed it. He advanced more on Spitelout. "And on top of that, the position of chief is _my_ birthright. You have no claim to it!"

"Except you ran off!"

"To fix the dragon problem!"

"You're the reason we need to replace Stoick in the first place!" Spitelout grew infuriated. "And if you won't listen to words, perhaps you'll listen to force!"

He made to grab Hiccup, who quickly stumbled back again. There was a loud roar as Toothless shoved Astrid out of the way, and he whipped his tail around to hit Spitelout square in the gut. The blow sent him flying backwards, landing with his back against the ground. An instant later, the Night Fury was atop him. The dragons screamed, and the people screamed.

"Dad!" Snotlout tried to break out of the crowd, but was held back by wise onlookers.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called.

The dragon's chest was heaving, not willing to release his prey, but exercising enough restraint to not complete his kill. He glared at the man beneath his claws, and hissed.

Astrid watched in fascination as Hiccup approached Spitelout. His breathing still came in shuddering sobs, but every inch of his body now exuded rage.

"Wait, wait!" Spitelout shuffled beneath the Night Fury's grasp, reached into his vest pocket, and pulled out a crumpled letter. "It's from your father, he said to give it to you if you returned before he did."

Hiccup took the letter with brisk fingers, glanced at it once, then stuffed it in his own pocket. "How nice of you to finally mention it. Probably more 'I'm so ashamed of my son' nonsense, though."

"Look, about what I said earlier..."

"What about it!?"

Spitelout glanced from Hiccup to the dragon, then back again, and over again - but words failed him. "For the love of Thor, Hiccup, just let me go."

Hiccup froze as he suddenly realized the true power he had. For once, someone had actually pled to him, and not the "Just go away!" kind of plea either.

He motioned for Toothless to back off. "So, just to make sure we all understand," he swept his arms out to indicate dragons and people alike, "you tell me that I'm the reason my father's dead, you mock me, you command to me leave even after I've pulled off the most monumental achievement yet seen in Berk, and then you try to attack me, and you expect me to do nothing about it!?"

With each accusation, the dragons could sense his rousing anger, and they clearly saw who it was directed at. Bit by bit, they began to climb and fly down from the roofs, taking their place by Hiccup's side and bringing more and more alarm to the Berkians.

Spitelout saw the hopelessness in his situation, but still tried one last time. "Hiccup...please..."

The boy shivered, and he took a shuddering breath. Then he looked at the dragons.

"You saw him," he pointed to Spitelout, "attack me?" He clawed at his face, and pointed at himself. The dragons cried out in anger, and drew closer.

"Hiccup!"

He gave Spitelout one last look in the eyes.

"Hiccup, don't do this!"

He closed his eyes, teardrops falling, and with a deep breath turned away.

"Hic-"

Everyone gasped in horror as the dragons closed in on the short-lived chief. Astrid covered her mouth in shock, stepping away from the scene as it unfolded. Hiccup did not watch, and tried not to hear. The ruckus shortly died away, leaving a terrible silence in its wake.

"Does anyone else have a problem with me?!"

No one dared to speak up.

"Anyone at all! I'm all ears for critiques at the moment!"

Even Snotlout, usually his most vocal critic, stayed silent - and that pleased him. One more disgusted look around, then he climbed on Toothless.

"Astrid!"

She had been staring at Spitelout, and now jerked her head around. "What! Yes!" At the moment, she didn't know what to think of him.

"Come on." His voice suddenly became gentle again, and he held out his hand to her. After a moment's hesitation, she grabbed it, and he pulled her onto the dragon.

"Where are we going?"

Hiccup bent low to prepare for takeoff, and his voice regained its edge. "I want to have a little talk with the Outcasts..."


	5. Last Voyage of the Hirschbiegel

**FIVE YEARS LATER**

* * *

><p><em>Day 21<br>_

_We continue our way west, with the winds and currents at our backs. The terrific storm I feared would strike our ship yesterday veered away, and we were spared its torment. _Our supply in the hold remains at good levels; I anticipate that the__ Hirschbiegel _shall_ soon return for home, and we shall be fed well on the way back, with no problems excepting the suspicion that we could have gone further. We currently approach a small isle, which I will chart by the day's end.  
><em>_

Hans Hermann lifted his quill from the diary and read the words he had written. Pondering how to continue, he stared out the window from his tiny cabin, watching the horizon tilt back and forth. Suddenly his mind seized upon the appropriate wording. The quill met the paper again.

_Yesterday, we circled around yet another island. This almost certainly confirms my belief that we have discovered an archipelago, one sparsely populated, if at all. However, I suspect that someone must be living here, for as we traveled around this particular island yesterday, we spotted clearly the ruins of a village. We set upon the shore to see it more closely, and found the footprints of _huts and the remains of worn paths between them._ What little wood remained stood splintered against charred stones, with cinders still forming heaps between the rocks. I cannot know who or what performed such a catastrophic thing. I recall the tales we hear of terrible berserkers and vikings, but I doubt such totality to be possible by human hands. To see the absoluteness of the destruction, the structures burned away to the bones, almost makes one heed the distant legends of the dragons._

Hans again looked out the porthole, his gaze wandering. With a sigh, he closed the book and laid the quill aside, then turned to stare at the wall opposite his desk.

Several sheets of parchment covered the wall like a patchwork quilt, and scrawled across it in painstaking detail was a map. Near the very right edge sat home: the prosperous kingdom of Kranzgrad. From there a light brown dotted line trailed its way left, and coastlines had gradually taken shape in black. Every inch had been envisioned, measured, remeasured, and plotted by Hans' patient hands.

He rose now and approached the map, gravitating to the center where a small silver pin took its place at the head of the brown line. Pulling a compass from his pocket, he turned to align himself with north, took note of the ship's direction. Then he produced a protractor from another pocket.

"Another day..." He removed the pin and, employing a divider caliper with upmost precision, moved it exactly one and three-sixteenths of an inch to the left, at an angle ten degrees up. "Another twenty leagues." He went to get his quill, to extend the dotted line.

As he finished his task, a sudden yell from the deck grabbed his attention. Putting down the ink and feather, Hans rushed from his room. Stepping into the open air, he found almost the entire crew shouting and pointing. "What's going on?"

"Shoot it! Shoot it!"

Several men fired their crossbows into the air. Hans followed the bolts and-

"Oh my God!"

Circling around the ship were two massive dragons, one red and one green. Hans didn't take his eyes from them as he tried to stumble backwards into his room, yet succeeding only in running into his door. His feet gave out from beneath him.

"You missed them!" The captain now appeared on deck, having retrieved his own weapon. His black uniform was trimmed in red. "Shoot again!"

Another volley from the crew, and this time the red dragon was hit in the leg. It faltered in its flight and roared in pain. More bolts launched themselves into the sky, but before they could reach their marks, the two beasts flew off. Everyone stared as they shrank into the distance.

"Oh my God..." Hans slowly got back to his feet. "Oh my God..."

The entire crew of twenty-seven men was visibly shaken, and no one moved for a long time even after the reptiles had disappeared.

The captain leaned over the railing, staring across the water. He muttered, "What devilry surrounds this place?"

"We must turn back!" One of the men yelled to the captain and the crew, trying to convince both. "We must turn back at once! Who knows what else may await us among these isles? What other delusions shall escape our minds and usurp reality?"

"No!" Hans stepped forward with his rebuttal. "We must press on, at least until we survey this last island!" He pointed off the bow of the ship, where the distant heaps of land laid low against the watery horizon. "We do not need to land there, but to know it is here without properly documenting it will be a disservice to our mission."

"Did you not see that we were just attacked?! If we go any further, they may return! And what if there are more dragons out there?"

Hans fell quiet. As much as he wished to investigate, he knew that the man had a good point. He turned to the captain. "Well, the decision lies with you. I just pray that you are also willing to press forward..."

A shake of the head answered him. "We aren't prepared to face off against dragons. We shall return to port, and sail out another time with more men and arms for protection. We are turning around!"

This last statement was announced over the whole ship, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief before rushing off to man the rigging.

"Mr. Hermann," the captain lowered his voice and took the cartographer's arm, "I'm sorry, I know how long you pressed for this expedition, and now for it to end like this..."

"Don't worry." Hans put on a smile. "No hard feelings, I understand. It's probably for the best, and in any case we were due to return in a few days. I just wanted to finish up the last island." He sighed. "I guess my job's done then, I'm just going to return to my cabin."

"Very well." The captain clapped him on the shoulder. "And don't feel too depressed, look at how much you did manage to chart out."

Hans chuckled, and made his way back to his space. Staring now at the map, his chest swelled with pride. It was a rather impressive feat. Surely he would have a chance to expand it more, maybe in a year's time he could set on another expedition.

Still, that would be a whole year to wait.

With a groan, he lay on his cot and shut his eyes, letting the ocean rock him to sleep.

It was ghastly screaming which woke him again.

Hans sat up, and slowly lifted his eyes to the ceiling. A chorus of inhuman sounds came from the sky. For the second time that day, he fled to the deck, only this time with his crossbow readied.

As he burst into the sunlight, he saw shadows dancing across the wood of the_Hirschbiegel_. All of the men were frozen, gaping at the sky. Hans followed their gaze. The crossbow fell from his hands.

Dozens of dragons circled above them. They screeched, they squawked, they hissed at the men on the ship. A cyclone of colors, bearing down on the small wooden tub that bobbed its way through the sea.

A smaller black dragon broke away, followed by several larger ones. They sped away from the _Hirschbiegel_, then swooped up and twisted around, now bearing down from the starboard side. For a brief moment, Hans thought he spotted on the black dragon...

"A rider?"

His observation was cut short when the side of the ship exploded.

Hans fell to his feet, rolling across the deck as it lurched. Looking up, he saw the larger dragons engulf themselves in flames and grapple with the rigging of the sails. They tangled themselves in the canvas and ropes and burned right through. Hans yelped in panic and got himself back up, even as the deck turned treacherous beneath his feet.

He sprinted and leaped over the flaming sails, which collapsed as the booms and masts splintered and snapped. Crossbows bolts whizzed by. Now the deck shivered again. More dragons had landed on the deck, screeching like terrible birds. Hans reached his cabin door at last, and before throwing it closed saw one of the reptiles whip its tail at him. As he sealed off his cabin, large spikes impaled themselves through the wood. He exclaimed in shock as they stood there, sticking at least a foot into his room. Hans tried the door to make sure it was locked, then glanced frantically around his small space.

A massive blast sounded again, and the _Hirschbiegel _lurched. The splintering which sounded for a long time afterwards called the integrity of the ship into question. Hans was thrown against the far wall, where he slumped down, his mind succumbing to panic. Staying on the ship was not an option - soon there would be no ship. He needed a way to escape without being noticed by the dragons. At the moment, no such alternative presented itself.

Outside the window, the black dragon banked around again, and Hans saw for sure this time a human upon its back. The rider was clad in reddish-brown and black armor, leather it seemed, and wore a matching mask which covered the face. The rider seemed to gesticulate to the dragons above before zooming out of sight. All at once, the ceiling shuddered with the weight of another impact. Hans looked up to see some kind of greenish smoke oozing through the boards overhead.

"Oh no, no no no..."

There was a sparking, and the ceiling burst into flame. Hans hit the floor again as the heat blared against his face, and he tried to shield himself with his arms. He watched the top of the map catch, and the fire slowly consumed its way downward. Hans took a breath and felt the burning air scorch his lungs. His cabin had been converted into a death chamber. His map, his work, his passion burned to ashes before his eyes, and the ceiling began to collapse. Another explosion rocked the ship, more splintering.

Outside the porthole, the dragons plunged into the water and carried away his crew, still writhing and kicking. Those already dead remained in the water...

With the smoke stinging his eyes, Hans got back to his feet, still crouching. He stumbled to his desk and grabbed his diary, shoving it into his vest pocket. Then he grabbed the door, and recoiled with a yell. The handle singed his palm; fire probably raged right on the other side.

He squeezed his eyes shut, gathered his breath, steeled himself. Adrenaline surged through his body as he finally opened his eyes and threw the door open. He ignored the searing pain on his hand. He ignored the licking flames that he dashed through. He ignored that the masts were gone, broken off entirely. He only ran.

Run onto the deck. The dragons see. They're coming. Veer to the side. Scramble over the edge. Jump.

Hans remembered to keep his legs together as he plunged into the ocean.

The cold water knocked the air out of him, and he struggled to get back to the surface before his lungs emptied completely. His eyes were shut tight, all was black. Where was up? Was he going up? Hans beat his arms, trying to find his way. His chest grew tight. Almost empty, horrible clenching. Water promised to rush in to fill the void, if he would just open his mouth...

His fingers touched air.

With another stroke, his head broke the surface. His lungs thanked him, and he panted as he tried to keep himself afloat. Ignoring his instinct to flail around, Hans ordered himself to lean his head back, and let himself drift on the surface of the water. Now he lay on his back, scarcely moving, hoping to attract no attention.

The _Hirschbiegel _burned. Dragons of all kinds scoured the ship as it slowly fell to pieces. Sailors were dragged from their cots or plucked from the ocean and flown off. Hans' heart fluttered whenever he saw them fly nearby, fearing that their talons would wrap around him next, but it seemed his illusion was convincing. All the while, the rider circled around, watching the whole scene unfold.

The water muffled Hans' ears, but he watched as the rider pulled his dragon up short. As he hovered, he began waving his arms, probably shouting to the dragons. All of the reptiles turned to watch, and began to vacate the ship. Then the black dragon banked around, and bore down on the _Hirschbiegel_ one more time. There was a high-pitched screech, one that Hans could hear through the water. Then the ship exploded in brilliant purple light, finally tearing into two, and crashed into the sea. Again, Hans could hear it through the water.

He stared straight up as the dragons went overhead. He recognized the men being carried away, the faces he could see full of terror.

And now they were gone.

For a long while after, Hans did not dare move. But finally, he gathered enough courage to tilt his head to either side, then back and forth. The dragons had vanished. He turned himself upright again to tread the water, and found himself floating among the wreckage of the ship. Grabbing a wooden board floating nearby, still warm and slightly burned, he began to kick his way further west, to the island.


	6. The Rider

The captain of the _Hirschbiegel_ groaned. His last memory consisted of the burning mast falling, and a terrific blow to the head. Now he opened his eyes, and found himself hundreds of feet in the air.

With a yell, he clasped at his one lifeline: the large black talons which gripped him, keeping him from plummeting to the water below.

"Captain!" The call came from his left and behind him. Twisting his head around, he saw one of his men, gripped under both armpits by another dragon. "Captain, what do we do?"

He looked around. Every direction he turned, crew members sat helpless in the clutches of the reptiles as they soared through the air. At the very front was the black dragon, and low over its back hunched...a rider? The captain shook his head, bewilderment slowly overtaking his senses.

"We..." He finally answered back. "We should do nothing foolish."

The rider suddenly dived, and the other dragons followed suit. The captain felt his gut leap as they swooped down through the air, then leveled out again. Now they approached an island, with a tall peak and several forested cliffs towering over the ocean. At their base sat a village, glimmering in decadence. The huts were large and trimmed in gold, and colored ribbons shone across the water. Large statues were arranged among the buildings, their details difficult to pick out from the height; he could only tell that all of them were either of men or dragons.

The dragons flew past the village and to the wilderness on the other side of the peak. The captain spotted a large cavern opening into the ground. The rider dived almost straight down towards the hole, and everyone followed suit.

With a twist that made the world spin, the dragon holding him plummeted down from the sky into the cave. The captain hollered in fright as the chasm swallowed them up, casting his vision into shadow. They jerked from side to side, then the dragons leveled out and effortlessly sped down the twisting tunnel, their quarry in tow. The walls echoed with yells, screeches, and the flapping of wings.

Suddenly the talons released. The captain skidded on the ground, rolling over several times, before landing with a gasp on his back.

He moaned. He could feel his arms and legs had skinned themselves on the stone, even through his uniform. The rough landing left him lying on the ground for what seemed a long while, even as he heard his crew yelling and groaning around him. This, it seemed, was their final destination.

All was pitch black; the light had disappeared far back in the cave. One by one, though, the dragons opened their mouths to provide a fiery glow. This provided enough light for the men to see each other, and also to see that they were surrounded.

"Captain!" One of the men scrambled to his feet and helped him up. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes I'm fine." He made to help the others, but the dragons began to creep in on them. Everyone backed into a huddle, the captain yanking the last man up by the arm and throwing him into the mass.

They came closer now, and all twelve of the men squeezed together. The reptiles drew ever nearer, the flames in their mouths burning hot and bright, soft hissing...

"Stop!"

The voice rang sharp and clear, and every dragon obeyed it. They backed off, letting the crew relax to a degree. Glancing around, the captain saw who gave the command: the rider of the black dragon, now dismounting and strolling towards them. His mask covered his face, but through the eye holes a penetrating glare escaped. The flickering light of the dragons' fire gave a slight glow to his leather armor, and was reflected in the metal spikes on the shoulders.

The captain wet his lips before speaking. "Please, we have no weapons with us. We are meant only as scouts and envoys of peace. I am-"

The rider reached to his hips and grabbed what seemed an empty hilt. Flicking his wrist, he suddenly produced a fiery blade, stunning the captain into silence.

"If I wanted your name, I would have asked you for it."

The rider pointed the blade at the captain's neck, then at the other crew members.

"Now, which one of you shot the dragon?"

There was no reply, only uneasy stares.

"Of course, more work for us to do." He suddenly called behind him, stowing his weapon. "Skyscorch! Come, Skyscorch!"

A large red dragon - the same from earlier, the captain recognized - pushed its way to the rider. The crew stared in disbelief as the snarling reptile suddenly turned docile as the rider placed his hand on its snout. The vicious facade melted away into the love a puppy would show.

"Aw, don't worry." The rider's voice changed too, friendly and sweet, but without condescension shown towards a pet. "Don't worry, they won't hurt you again. They won't hurt you again." He looked the dragon right in the eyes, and it stared back with affection. "Now, I need you to show me..." He pointed to his eyes and then his chest. "Which one of them hurt you?" He gestured to the crew, and then the dragon's hind left leg.

The dragon crept forward, peering at each man with narrowed lids. Suddenly it growled, its gaze locked right on one of the crew members. The others tried to shuffle away, leaving the poor man alone. The dragon kept glowering as the rider stepped forward.

"So you're the one who shot poor Skyscorch!" He sighed as he began to walk circles around the man. His height made him even more formidable, the effect clearly working on the lone sailor. "You should really be ashamed of yourself, attacking a poor dragon like that."

"No, no!" He was visibly beginning to break down. "It attacked us first!"

"Who, him? Skyscorch?" The rider paused and gave a playful pat on the dragon's snout. "He's harmless! Aren't you big guy?" A sudden pause. "That is, as long as people pay him the proper respect."

"No, no, please, it came flying towards us, and-"

"And?"

"And-and, it was circling around us, and...I just panicked, okay? I've never seen one of these things before!"

This seemed to surprise the rider. "Really? Never seen a Monstrous Nightmare?"

"No! Never! And it was just up there, and I was scared-"

"Well how do you think he felt? Skyscorch, come here. Turn around, please." The dragon did so, revealing its hind left leg more clearly. It was wrapped in bandages, with a large stain in the middle. "Because of your 'panic', look what happened. I'm just thankful you didn't hit a large artery..."

"Please, please, I'm sorry! Look, I wasn't even the only who shot! Everyone did, all of my crew did!"

The rider snorted, and almost doubled over. "Oh, oh! Captain, gotta love the loyalty of men! They'll just hand you over the moment they think it'll get them out of something!"

The man only stared in horror as the rider laughed, as if this life-or-death situation was only a joke. Finally, he sighed, recovering from his humor.

"Oh, man, that's too funny. Now that, right there, is why I prefer the company of dragons. The most loyal friends I've ever had, couldn't ask for any better." He gave a last chuckle before his voice grew cold again. "That's why I get very upset when someone tries to hurt them."

"No, God no, please..." He sank to his knees, quivering. "Please, I beg you for mercy. I will never, ever do it again, I swear it!"

"Oh, I'm quite certain of that." The rider walked once more around him.

"Please!"

"Well, I suppose, since it was fairly minor, I could overlook it-"

"Oh, thank you, thank-"

"-but that's not really my decision to make." The rider turned to face the man, and the captain could have sworn that he was smirking behind the mask. "See, Skyscorch is the one you injured, so he's who you have to answer to."

He extended his open palm towards the man, glanced at Skyscorch, and gave a nod.

The dragon leapt forward, grabbed its quarry, and flew off down the tunnel, the screaming sending echoes for a long time afterwards.

The remaining eleven men stared after with horror, none daring to even draw a breath.

"Well, thank the gods _that's_ over."

The rider grabbed their attention again, and now he removed his mask, tucking it under his arm. The captain was taken aback, discovering that it was not a grown man underneath the armor. In fact, the rider hardly seemed to be past his teenage years. Now that his features were visible, his emotions were easier to see, and at the moment he seemed extremely annoyed.

"As for the rest of you, you are guilty of running a ship without flying the Berkian colors. Now that gets you..." He bobbed his head around in mock self-debate; his nonchalant manner did little to comfort the crew. "...a week of labor to repay for lost dues. However, what your friend said back there has me wondering. Is it true that you've never seen a Monstrous Nightmare?"

The crew looked at each other, each asking the others to speak and none wishing to be the speaker.

"Come on, I asked a question, you provide an answer. Very simple, here."

The captain took a deep breath, and spoke with as much dignity as he could muster; nevertheless, a slight tremble could be heard. "No, none of us have seen a 'Monstrous Nightmare' in our lives."

"Interesting...what dragons are you familiar with?" As he paced back and forth, the black dragon wandered up to him, and he greeted it with kind words. "Hey bud, don't worry, we'll be out of here soon. I'm almost done."

"I cannot say that any of us have any experience with dragons. We come from a very far land, a peaceful land, where no such beasts exist. We are here on-"

"No dragons? None?" The boy was incredulous, and he shook his head slowly. "Where are you from?"

"We bring tidings from the Kingdom of Kranzgrad, and seek to establish strong and lasting friendships. Friendships with _good_ kings and queens." He emphasized this last point. As the rider seemed to ponder this, the captain hazarded his own question. "May I ask who we are currently speaking to, and where we are?"

"Oh, right! I have not been properly introduced." He puffed out his chest and recited: "I am Lord Haddock, the Dragon Overlord, Sovereign over the Skies, and Emperor over Greater Berk. You're currently on - or, under the Isle of Berk. I don't think I'll be having you stay here, though..."

"Why?"

"Well, you all kind of owe me a week of labor, remember?" He rested his hand on his chin, and nodded. "I've been looking for more iron recently. I'll take you southwest, the mines on Ganz Island could use more people."

The captain could hardly believe his ears. "No, we are peaceful emissaries! Please, Lord Haddock, show decency and let us go."

The boy considered this. The black dragon came up to him again, and he gave a pat on its head as he answered. "Where is Kranzgrad?"

"It's just a few weeks to the east." The captain filled with hope. "Our cartographer, he's..." He looked around. "He's gone, but I'm sure we can find our way back by memory."

"To the east." He crossed his arms. "I'll have to put it on my list."

"List?" The hope suddenly converted to dread.

"Places I have to visit, see for myself." Now he put his mask back on, and mounted the black dragon again. "The life of an emperor is busy though, so it may be a while before I can come around. In the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy yourselves on Ganz Island. And who knows, after your time is up, perhaps you'll even settle in."

The captain ran out of things to say.

"Bring them! Follow me!"

Lord Haddock took off, and the dragons grabbed the crew and followed suit.


	7. Quiet Evening

Astrid sat and watched the whetstone wheel grind against her axe, making sure to keep the edge smooth and curved. Its cheek gleamed with a large inset ruby, and inscriptions were written over the mirrored surface that reflected her face. The large room around her was warmly lit by a flickering fire, which roared in the hearth, and the windows showed the quiet darkness of night outside. Around her, paintings and tapestries covered the walls, scarcely leaving room to see the wood underneath.

She was just finishing when the door opened, and a familiar voice called out. "Good evening, milady!"

"Hey!" Astrid lifted the axe from the wheel and set it on her lap, tilting her head to the side a bit. The warm touch of gentle lips on her cheek brought out a smile, and she held Hiccup's head close to her own.

"I'm home."

"I can see that." With a chuckle, she let his head go, and took her axe to lean it against the wall. Toothless, meanwhile, curled up by the fireplace and watched the two humans talk.

"So, other than sharpening your favorite axe," Hiccup sprawled on the couch, leaving a space which Astrid filled beside him, "what else did you have going on today?"

"Ah, you know, nothing much. I was thinking, actually, of taking a boat to the far side of the island, camping for a few days." She started to tie a small braid in his hair, right by two others she had done before, which he allowed. "Maybe, if you want to come, we could go together?"

"Hmm, tomorrow…" He leaned his head back as he thought. "Can you wait until about noon?"

"I suppose, why?"

"Fishlegs gave me the trade report this morning, one of the islands hasn't paid its levy this month. I'm gonna take Toothless over, figure it out." He turned to look at her. "I should be back by noon, though, if I leave at sunrise. Then I think I'd love to join you." He took her hand and gave it a squeeze, smiling.

"Alright." Astrid grinned back, but Hiccup's mention of the levy unsettled her. "I'll wait for you then, and don't give the island too much trouble!" She gave a slight chuckle, even though it had not really been a joke.

Hiccup shook his head. "Nah, they're usually good with it. The local governor, he's never given me any trouble before, always willing to cooperate. More than likely, something's gone wrong, so like I said, I'll just see what I can work out."

"Good, that's good." Astrid felt relieved inside, and she began twirling the braids in his hair. "So, your turn. What did _you_ do today?"

"Eh, it was much of the usual. Like I said, Fishlegs gave me the trade report, and everything else is running well. I spent some time transcribing stuff. But a little before noon, Skyscorch flew in, with an arrow sticking from his leg!"

A pang of fear gripped Astrid. She stopped playing with his hair. "What happened?"

"Well, after I bandaged him up – it wasn't too bad, thank the gods – I took most of the dragons out, and Skyscorch led us to this ship that was sailing from the east. And on top of shooting a dragon, they weren't flying the Berk crest."

Astrid knew where this was heading, but she still asked. "What did you do?"

"Well, you know the drill. Running a vessel without paying the duty is a week, along with the destruction of the actual vessel. As for the guy who shot Skyscorch…" He threw his hands up in mock surrender. "You know how dragons are when you attack them."

Astrid looked away, bit her lip. Then she turned back. "Are you sure they need a whole week though? I mean, have they done this before?"

"No. In fact, they're not even from the archipelago."

"Well, there you go then! They probably didn't even know about the levy, there's no need to punish them more."

But he shook his head. "No. No, if they're going to be around here, they need to learn to respect the law." He gazed ahead, at nothing in particular. "They need to learn to respect me."

Astrid hated to see Hiccup like this; it chilled her to hear him condemning people so easily. For a brief moment, the small scrawny boy from years ago reappeared in front of her. The boy who fought the worst but tried the most out of everyone. He was constantly scribbling away in his notebook, cooking up fantastic plots and devices. Now he sat sullen at the far table, staring into his cup as everyone jeered at him. There he was, trying to persuade Gobber to let him fight the dragon raid, pleading for his chance to prove his worth. Now he walked by, subjected to an onslaught of ridicule. And now he evaporated, leaving only the man who sat beside her. He was taller, leaner, stronger, and acted with an authority he had never dreamed of having for the first fifteen years of his life. _Gods, why didn't I reach out to him sooner?_

All this ran through her head in seconds.

"Well…" She snapped him out of his stony gaze. "If you're looking for respect, I'm sure you put it into them. Maybe you can go back, lighten up a little bit on them for not being aware? I'm sure they'd be very grateful for it."

Hiccup took a deep breath, the air wheezing through his nose. "I guess, since they didn't know…I'll swing by tomorrow on my way back, let them off the hook. Don't see how I'll get them back home, but at least they can start their new lives on Ganz Island."

Astrid breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, at least they'll be free again." Seeking to change the subject, she looked up a bit, and over the fireplace spotted a portrait. It showed herself and Hiccup embracing each other, with Toothless standing right behind them. "Heh, remember when we got that painted for us?"

Hiccup turned to see. "Oh yeah! Darned thing took hours, thought we were going to have to spend the night standing there." He chuckled, and Astrid was thankful to see warmth return to his eyes.

"Yeah, and then a few hours in, you suddenly sneezed, with me right in the way."

"Hey, it was an accident, alright? You know how sneezes are." Both laughed at the memory.

"Oh, and Toothless just jumped five feet straight into the air. You almost gave your dragon a heart attack!"

Toothless perked up at his name. When he saw they were laughing at his expense, he dropped his eyelids in insult and turned away.

"Oh boy…" Hiccup shook his head at the painting. "After that, if I so much as sniffed you would jerk away."

"Did you expect me to trust you again so quickly?"

"Man, _that_ was a fun day."

"I don't remember you complaining, though. Maybe it had something to do with being in my arms…" And she put her arms around Hiccup, grateful to have the peaceable and joyful version of him back. She felt him return the gesture, and she relaxed a bit. They stayed that way for a long time together.

"Hey Astrid?"

"Yeah?" She could sense concern in his voice.

"I'm…I'm doing the right thing, aren't I?"

Astrid was surprised, but also grateful for the potential opportunity that presented itself. "Well…what do you mean by that?"

"I mean…" He struggled for words. "I know a lot of people don't like me. I'm not blind, I can see it, even if they don't say it. But I've done a lot for Berk. The Outcasts are gone, and the Berserkers are part of the empire now. I stopped the raids. Plus, you look around the village, everything is better. All the buildings are sturdier, trade keeps people busy and living well. And, with the dragons fishing, there's more food than we can eat."

"Yeah, it seems pretty great…then what's troubling you?"

Hiccup didn't answer at first. His gaze was cast down. "I don't know, maybe I'm just being stupid right now."

"Well maybe," She lifted his chin so that he looked her in the eyes. "Maybe if you loosen up a bit, you'll feel a little better. You don't have to be in charge of everything, you know."

She watched his face, gauged his reaction. For a while he just kept staring at her. Then he put his hand on the back of her neck, and gave a quiet, passionate kiss on her lips. Astrid returned it, putting her own arms around him again. After a few seconds he broke, and rested his forehead against hers.

"I don't know what I'd do without you." He caressed her cheek, and gave a demure smile. "You're always here to keep me grounded."

And there he was again, the boy from the past, alive and well again, holding her. Astrid drank in the illusion for as long as she could, not wanting it to vanish again.

After a long silence, Hiccup got up. "Well..." He sighed. "If I'm going to be back in time to join you tomorrow, I'm going to have to get up early, which means I got to get to bed early. C'mon Toothless."

Astrid watched the two go up the stairs, then through the door on the left - her own room was right next door. As she was left to ponder her thoughts, she didn't see Hiccup remove his prosthetic before sitting on the edge of his bed. She did not see him bury his head in his hands, and give a shuddering sigh.


	8. Shipwrecked

Hans awoke to see the sun rising over the water. A misty band of rosy-gold hugged the horizon, with pale blue above and the dark ocean below, and the blazing sun worked to burn off the night fog.

He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. The hard rock cave he had slept in had taken its toll on his back; the cold wet surface offered no comfort for his weary soul. He got to his feet. Emerging from the cave, Hans blinked his eyes open and looked down the beach. The tide had receded a bit from where it had been last evening, since the board he had swum to shore on lay far from the ocean's edge. Gazing across the sand, he saw various bits of debris which the tireless waves had carried to land. Boards, furniture, clothes, bodies...

Hans coughed in disgust, and looked away. He took a moment to steel himself before turning back again. His movements were uncomfortable in his clothes, stiff from the salt water, but he still proceeded slowly down the beach. With a sharp eye he tried to collect what he could, anything that might be useful. A length of rope, unscathed by the fire, definitely a must-have. An empty glass bottle, still unshattered, also good. Various books, the words washed out, but the paper once dried could make for kindling.

That reminded Hans of something. Setting his haul on the sand, his fingers darted to his coat pocket. He had been so exhausted and focused on finding shelter last night that he hadn't bothered to check...

He pulled out his diary, and frantically flipped it open. As his fingers danced from page to page, he saw the words - or rather, saw the smudges that had until yesterday been words, until the ocean drowned them.

"God damn it!"

He hurled the book away, enraged that his records were lost. His map, reduced to ashes. All this journey for nothing, all the discovery lost. Lives blown into the sea, all for naught. Hans looked down now at one of his shipmates - Alexander, a young man who had a wife and three kids back in Kranzgrad, who loved to gaze at the stars out on deck, who dreamed of one day captaining his own ship, who could make anyone laugh with his genius story about three drunken reindeer - pallid, clammy, pale lips which would not laugh or sing or kiss any more. And for what crime? Hans' face twisted in agony and fury.

"Damn you!" He shook his fists as he screamed across the water. "Damn you! DAMN YOU!" He kicked at the sand, sank to his knees as he sobbed for his brethren, scanned the sky for a glimpse of God and finding none.

He wailed until he felt his chest would burst.

Finally he surrendered to exhaustion, and sat quietly on the beach. He sniffed, glared over at his collection of items. Gazing down the beach again, though, his eyes came to rest as he spotted-

"Oh...oh please..."

He dashed over the shifting sands to a chest, small enough to be lifted by only one of its handles. It was one piece, still sealed. Hans immediately recognized it as the captain's, and opened it. Three more books were inside. Taking one of them and looking through it, he choked on his joy to see most of the words legible and clear, with only a few smears around the edges.

"Oh, thank God."

They were the last reminders he had of Kranzgrad.

The chest proved portable enough to be used to carry things around in, and soon Hans had finished scrounging the beach. Holding a book in one hand, dangling the latched chest in the other, he turned his back to the ocean.

The island proved docile enough. There were a few wooded clumps, and some stony outcrops dotted the surface, but for the most part the terrain was soft, rolling, and grassy. Gentle hills climbed and fell. And sheep, sheep were all around. Always in large packs, Hans noticed, and they stared after him. The effect was chilling, and he shuddered as he felt their eyes bore into his back.

Now as he worked his way up another hill, he saw a fence, running along its peak. He jogged to it, stared down its length in both directions.

_Please let there still be people._

Hans followed the fence, dull and wooden, as it meandered across the grass. As he crested one last hill, he saw a house down below and a shepherd in the fields - and lots of houses beyond his.

"Hello!" He waved his hand with the book in it, high over his head. Thankfully the shepherd heard his call, and came walking over at a brisk pace.

"What the..." The man was wearing a brown tunic, a horned helmet, a large bushy beard, and an expression of bewilderment. "Who are you?"

"Please, I have been through much over the past day. I just ask for rest, even if only for an hour."

"Who are you?" The shepherd repeated the question, but also began to motion his visitor into the house.

"My name is Hans Hermann, I come from Kranzgrad, a kingdom to the east. I was part of an expedition to explore and find new lands, but my ship was attacked by dragons, and my crew is-"

"Dragons?!" He froze and stared, his face suddenly alarmed.

"Yes! I know, it's difficult to believe. But I swear upon my soul, they came in, dozens of them, and-"

"I cannot help you." The shepherd began shaking his head, and led Hans roughly to the door. "If the Dragon Overlord is involved, if he wants you, then I want nothing to do with this business!"

"Wait, wait! Please, just a few minutes of rest before I go. And I don't even know where I am, or who this 'overlord' is-"

"The governor's house is in the center of the village." He shoved Hans out the door, then pointed. "That way, look for the largest hut. Now I am sorry to be rude, but good day!" And with that, the door slammed.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, Hans was repeating his identity and origin to Governor Waltheson, a stout man who had thinning hair and a quiet face. The governor's son, a skinny blond-haired boy named Peter, sat on a nearby windowsill, pretending to play with a stuffed dragon as he eavesdropped.<p>

"And may I ask, please, where I am?"

The governor said nothing for a moment, merely staring from his blue-clothed seat. Then he motioned to a matching chair nearby. "Please Mr. Hermann, sit down."

The cartographer did so. Waltheson leaned his head on his palm and sighed.

"You're in the village of Carlhorse." As he spoke he looked up. "We're part of Greater Berk: the eastern fringe of the empire, to be exact. Berk itself is a few days away by sailing, even though the dragons can fly it quickly enough."

"We were not aware of any imperial power here. And where do the dragons come from?"

The governor sighed, and folded his hands. "I think I can answer both questions at the same time. The Berkian Empire is very new, but it has built up fast. We ourselves didn't join until a couple of years ago. I was chief back then, and things were terrible. If it wasn't dragons stealing our food, it was barbarians from the east, who would carry off what little we had left - and if we didn't have enough, they took women and children.

"But one day, the dragons stopped coming. A few nights of rest from their raids turned into weeks, and we were all very relieved. Except, of course, the barbarians were relieved as well, and their attacks only grew more frequent. We were dwindling, and I feared we would all perish within a generation.

"Then one day, three years after the raids stopped, this boy, only seventeen or eighteen years old, came to our shores. And he was riding a dragon!"

"The rider...was the dragon black?"

"Yes, a Night Fury!" The governor nodded. "And he was followed by at least thirty others, all kinds - Nadders, Nightmares, even a few Whispering Deaths. For a moment I thought that Ragnarok had begun, that it was one of the gods preparing to enter into a death battle with his brothers! But he dismounted, and called for a leader. So I stepped forward, of course. He asked me to show him around the village, and inquired about our affairs. Of course I told him about the barbarians and their merciless assaults. Then he made me a deal: in exchange for our allegiance to him, he would give us protection and prosperity until the end of days."

"And you did it? You agreed with him?"

"Of course I did! I cannot say no to a man who commands such power, especially when he offers to help. And under such lenient terms: Lord Haddock - bless his name - allowed me to keep my position as head of Carlhorse, converting the chiefdom into a governorship, and he leaves us free to manage our affairs, only asking a small tribute each month." At this he seemed a little uncomfortable.

"What about the raiders?"

At this the governor fell silent, and looked down. "The day that we joined the empire, Lord Haddock kept his dragons on the island until nightfall. Then I and a few others took a ship out to the east, to the raiders' den. He and his dragons followed."

"But he kept his word."

"Yes..." Waltheson stared into space, as if entranced. "I swear upon Thor, I remember my initial impression of him - that he was a god - and I still wonder if I was not at least partially correct. When the dragons attacked, night turned into hellish day. Fire of all forms spewed from the sky, and in the light you could see the silhouettes." He sniffed though, and let his expression harden, shaking his head. "Those murderers deserved it though. They had no human decency, no honor. They took my wife and my daughter and..." He quickly glanced at his son, playing by the window, and closed his eyes, a couple of tears brimming.

Hans could hardly believe his ears. Here were tales of legends and myths, being presented as history. "But...but he killed my crew. Your Lord Haddock killed my entire crew!"

"I am grateful," the governor snapped, causing his son to whip around, "for Lord Haddock. After we spent decades suffering in grief, he ended it, took the pain away. He watches the oceans, organizes trade, provides for us. We have always been shepherds, and all that has changed since his arrival is that we are now rich shepherds. His dragons bring in enough fish to feed us all, and with the wool and milk we sell to the other islands in the empire, life has never been better for Carlhorse." He glared at Hans, daring him to retort back.

Before Hans could answer, there was shouting outside, and the door opened.

"Governor Waltheson! Lord Haddock is here!"

The governor looked out the door as the messenger left, a slight trace of worry shadowing his face.

"Oh dear..."

He sprang from his seat. Hans and Peter hurried after. A crowd of people were either flocking to the main square or, mostly, fleeing to their homes. Up ahead, the rider was just dismounting from his dragon - the "Night Fury", Hans remembered the name - while four other dragons took up positions alongside him.

"Lord Haddock!" Waltheson sprinted up to the teen, who was just removing his helmet. The governor quickly nodded his head in a quick bow before speaking. "I was not aware you were coming, otherwise I would have prepared-"

"Nah, it's alright, I won't be staying too long. Hopefully. I have a busy day."

Hans found a spot in the circle to see, watching with curious, uneasy eyes. He suddenly realized that he was standing right behind Peter. The boy seemed to glance from father to emperor with furtive, worried glances.

"Oh, of course my lord. The minutia of running an empire must weigh upon you."

"Yes, it does, and it's rather annoying," Lord Haddock crossed his arms, "when I have to interrupt that to fly all the way here to see why you are late with your levy."

Waltheson went a bit pale. "M-my lord, we have had a terrible past few months. Our flocks were devastated by disease, and although we were able to contain it, our supply of wool has plummeted as a result."

The emperor nodded his head to this, pacing back and forth as he listened. He silently motioned for the governor to continue.

"Our treasury has been depleted, and we hardly have enough wool to trade. Please, we are just falling on hard times."

Lord Haddock continued to nod at all of this, and now approached Waltheson. Side by side, Hans could notice how much taller the emperor was in contrast. He also noticed Peter tensing up ever so slightly.

"Waltheson." Lord Haddock rested a hand on the governor's shoulder. "Good people of Carlhorse!" He shouted to everyone present. "I am perfectly reasonable. I can see what's going on. You've always been good and loyal. Tell me, how long will it take you to recover?"

"Uh," Waltheson glanced furtively to either side, wanting a number not too low or high. "In five months, our herds should be at their full size again."

"Very well. I grant you all a pardon! For the next five months, there will be no levy for Carlhorse. You can repay me what I'm owed later."

"Oh, thank you!" He took the emperor's hand and gave it a hearty shake. "Thank you, Lord Haddock!" And a general sense of relief came over everyone present.

"Yeah, yeah. Just remember, I'll still be expecting it later on."

"Of course, I would never dream of forgetting it, of cheating you after all you've done for us. And you shall have more than what you ask once we are back on our feet."

Lord Haddock now turned to leave, and for a split second his eyes connected with Hans'. Then he turned away - and now back again.

"Hold on a moment." Everyone snapped back to attention, and he motioned to Hans. "Come here."

All eyes turned on him. Hans felt his breath steal away, but he slowly stepped forward. The teen came up to him, a curious look in his eyes.

"Have I seen you somewhere?"

Hans wanted so badly to yell, curse, tell him exactly where he had seen him. He realized, though, that it would be a very poor decision at the moment.

"Wait..." His memory seemed to catch up to him. "Wait, were you on the ship yesterday?"

Hans bit his lip and looked down, not wanting to betray the anger in his eyes. He gave a curt nod.

There was no response for a while.

"If it's any consolation, most of your crew is still alive."

He looked up, looked eye-to-eye with the boy he had been cursing only hours before, and saw Lord Haddock staring at him not with anger or malice, but rather...was it regret?

"They're on Ganz Island. I'm heading that way right now, actually. If you'd like, I can take you there." He motioned to the Night Fury.

Hans' voice caught in his throat, several emotions tearing through him. Finally, he brought himself under enough control to enunciate, "No."

Lord Haddock nodded, then dropped his eyes. "What's your book about?"

In all the rush outside, Hans had forgotten that he still had a book in his hand. He looked down now at the cover, tan with black lettering: _Aristotelian Metallurgy and Transmutation_.

"Can I see?"

Feeling little choice in the matter, Hans handed over the text. Lord Haddock thumbed through it, his eyes lighting up as they began to devour the pages inside.

"I'm a bit of a collector, in my free time." Lord Haddock motioned for Hans to follow him to the Night Fury, which the cartographer did with little enthusiasm. The teen kept his gaze on the book. "I'm trying to build a library on Berk, so I transcribe texts, collect folk stories, you know. Things you would find in a library, things that define our culture." He finally closed the text and began digging in a knapsack which was tied to the dragon's saddle, and pulled out a small pouch. "Would you be willing to sell it?"

Hans hardly knew what to say. "It's...it's not strictly mine."

Lord Haddock chuckled. "Well, you had it in your hand. Here," he dug into the pouch and pulled out several gold coins. "Would this be enough to cover your trouble?"

"I..." He was torn between keeping hold of the captain's possessions and keeping the peace. Finally, he yielded. "I'll take it."

The gold coins were deposited in his hand. Looking at them, Hans found a dragon etched onto one side, and a Norse rune on the other.

"Thank you!" Lord Haddock slid the book into the sack, then mounted his dragon. "By the way, I didn't catch your name?"

"Hans. Hans Hermann."

"Hans, welcome to Greater Berk. Sorry to get off on the wrong foot, but I hope you enjoy it here." With a warm smile that revolted the cartographer, the emperor hunched low over the Night Fury before they took off into the sky.


	9. Into the Woods

The sun perched at its zenith, its warm light piercing down onto the Isle of Berk. The shadows were short, and the road ran long and winding as Astrid walked along it. She carried a basket slung over her shoulder as she made her way through the village to the docks.

No one was in sight.

Well, not exactly _no one._ The dragons seemed cheery enough, following each other around and vocalizing in dozens of mannerisms. They always watched her as she approached and went by, their eyes watching for any harm which could threaten the girl. For example, at the moment two Nadders and a Gronckle interrupted their play-fight to cock their heads in curiosity as she passed.

Astrid gave a feeble smile and waved, then turned her eyes back to the ground. She knew there were people around, hidden away in the buildings that lined the street. They retreated into their homes and forges and woodshops and simply shuttered themselves inside until she passed. No one wished to get in her way, no one wished to risk distressing her. Nobody wanted to cross Hiccup's girl.

And she hated that.

At least now she was about to have contact with one of the few humans who didn't shun her. Setting down the basket by Gobber's window, she knocked on the wood. There was a clatter inside.

"Who is it?"

"It's Astrid," she replied in a soft voice. Although, technically, her full title was Lady Astrid Hofferson, Empress Consort, Queen of Berk and Mistress of Steel.

She hated that, too.

The window opened, and Gobber looked out. "Astrid! Fancy seein' you 'ere." He was just fitting his hook attachment onto his left arm. "Come down to visit your subjects, eh?"

"You know it's not like that." She could tell he was joking - and yet, it cut too deeply for her. He must have seen the hurt expression on her face.

"Eh, don't it take it the wrong way. I'm just sayin', we hardly see you anymore."

"Maybe if everyone didn't shut themselves in every time I start to walk by, they'd see me more."

Gobber nodded in silence, and opted for a change in topic. "Well, what can I do for ye?"

"Hiccup and I are going to the forest." She gestured to the basket sitting beside her. "And I wanted to practice my archery-"

"Say no more!" Gobber turned and reached behind him, producing a handful of arrows. " 'ow many?"

"Um...ten?"

"That's seven, eight, nine...'ere ya go!" He wrapped the bundle in a cloth and handed it through the window.

"Thanks. How much is that?"

"Hrmmmm." He scratched his beard with his hook. "Two coins an arrow, but for buyin' the lot...I'll take fifteen."

"Alright." Astrid began counting out the currency. "You know why I always come to you for this stuff?"

"You mean besides my superior craftsmanship and delightful good looks?"

She snorted; gods, she appreciated humor when she could still find it. "You actually do business with me. Real business."

"Real business? As opposed to...?"

"Giving me everything for free." A small pile of golden coins lay on the counter. "I go anywhere else, they try to shove their entire shop into my hands. On top of that, they won't even look at me, or talk to me like a normal person, much less actually crack jokes like you do."

"Well, I guess I can get away with it, havin' known you before..." he waved his hand around, "this."

Astrid turned and looked at Berk - the new Berk, the rich Berk, the powerful Berk. The village was the seat of an empire, and looked the part. The dirt path had been overlaid with cobblestone, leading all the way from the Great Hall to the docks. Half the wooden huts had been replaced with stone, smoothed and polished with rounded arches and flat rooftops for the dragons to sit on. On each building were hung cloth streamers of every color, as well as spoils and artifacts from war: a public collection that proclaimed victory to all who looked upon it.

"Y'know, as much as I messed with 'im, I had a feelin' that boy would do somethin' with himself. I jus' didn't realize it would be..." He gestured again.

"Yeah..." Astrid gazed at the far end of the village, where a statue stood. It was life-sized, painted marble, and portrayed Hiccup pointing across the sea. A gift from one of the provinces to the north, for the emperor's twentieth birthday. "Yeah, but things are better now, right?",

"Oh yeah, much better." He grabbed a rag and started to polish his hook. "Much, much better now."

She couldn't tell how much sarcasm he meant to inject into his words.

Gobber looked up. "Speakin' o' that boy..." He pointed at the sky behind her head, where a Night Fury was swooping towards the ground, and proceeded to turn away.

"Hey!" Hiccup got off of Toothless, removed his helmet, and jogged over to Astrid, leaving a quick peck on her cheek. "Got everything ready?"

"Yeah, I was just getting a few of these." She held up the arrows. "I'm going to practice a bit, and maybe you can try."

He snorted. "After what happened last time? No thank you!"

"Come on, that was a long time ago!" She opened the lid to the basket. "And you were holding it wrong."

"Are you sure you're not trying to kill me?"

"You got a little scrape on your arm, it didn't almost kill you!" She laughed as she tossed the arrows into her basket and closed the lid again. "Can you take this down to the docks for me? There's one more basket back home, I'll go grab it."

"Oh, actually, I was going to go change. I'd like to have something more comfortable than leather." He took a few steps down the road. "You head down to the boat, I'll grab the other basket."

"Alright, but keep your armguards on. You'll need them." Astrid slung it over her shoulder. "Seeya there. Bye Gobber!"

The blacksmith raised his hand in farewell, and gave a polite nod to Hiccup before closing the window of his shop. Hiccup set off in the opposite direction as Astrid continued towards the ocean, following the road as it approached the corner of a house. Suddenly, a ball bounced into her path. She set down her load and knelt to pick up the toy, just as a young boy and girl came laughing around the bend. The two children met her eyes, and the playful grins dissolved.

Astrid did her best to smile at them, and held out the ball. "Here." She nodded in encouragement.

The boy and girl did not speak back, only drawing closer together. Astrid watched as they took a step back, then another, all the while keeping a wary gaze. Then they broke into a run, disappearing again behind the corner.

She sighed and dropped her head. Setting the ball on the cobblestone, she picked up the basket again, and set off.

Astrid had not really expected a different reaction.

* * *

><p>"Now pull it back..."<p>

True to her word, Astrid had convinced Hiccup to try his hand one last time at the bow. He had changed into his signature green tunic, complete with pants and fur vest - but had chosen to heed Astrid's request to leave his leather armguards on, to keep his arms from being skinned again. Toothless was frolicking in the forest, never straying too far - Astrid never grew used to the sight of the huge black lizard _frolicking_.

Thirty feet away stood a large tree, which bore a chalk circle on its trunk.

"Alright, you look good. Aim for the target and let go!"

He took a deep breath, and let the arrow fly. It sailed through the air, past the target, and into the ground a ways further on.

"That's not the target," Astrid chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah." Hiccup bent down and plucked another arrow from the ground. "At least this time, I didn't get hurt." He flashed a smile before nocking the arrow. Straightening his back, he aimed once more, drew the string back.

The arrow flipped up and smacked him in the face.

"Ow!" He stumbled back, dropping the bow and clutching his eye.

Astrid burst out laughing as the arrow spun away. "That's still not the target!" She stopped him and pried his hand away from his face. "Here, let me see. Let me see. Aw, it's not even drawing blood. You'll be fine."

"It still hurts though." He felt his face with a ginger touch - a pale red welt was beginning to rise.

"Here." She gave a quick kiss on his cheek. "Better now?"

Hiccup became sheepish. "A little, I guess...But see, I told you this would happen."

"Hmmm." Astrid gave him a smirk. "You go sit and rest. You're excused from archery from the rest of the day."

"As you say, milady." He went over by a tree and sat on the ground, pulling a book from his vest pocket and flipping it open.

They stayed that way for a few hours, Hiccup reading and Astrid firing arrows - and dragons, constantly overhead, keeping an eye on their alpha. Their shadows constantly darted around as they perched in the trees or simply flew over, often staying for no more than a few minutes before leaving again. Astrid had learned to tune them out.

Soon she switched from archery to axe throwing, giving a satisfied "Ha!" each time she embedded the head into a trunk.

"Hey Hiccup!"

He looked up, and saw her pulling the axe from another tree. "Before you ask me, I am not going to try that."

"Are you sure? You're so good with a bow, I think you're ready to graduate to sharper, heavier weapons!"

"Yeah, exactly what I mean." He shook his head and glanced down at the book again. "What's going on?"

"I was just seeing what you're doing, what you're reading."

"I just got this today, at Carlhorse." He held up the cover so she could see it. It was a strange form of Norse, clearly from a distant land, but it was just familiar enough that she could make it out.

"'Aristotelian Metallurgy and Transmutation'?"

"Yeah, it's really fascinating. Here, look." He got up and came alongside her, so she could see the book herself. "The author was trying to explore how to create these different substances. Here, he has notes about a universal solvent - it can dissolve any substance."

"Okay." Astrid nodded. "And he would want that why?"

Hiccup opened his mouth - but failed to find words. "Well, it's just interesting, I guess. But that's not the best part of this. Look..." He flipped some pages, and pointed. "He did a lot of work on turning different metals into gold. And here," a few more pages forward, "the Water of Life, that can keep a person young forever. And after that, a lot of information about creating and dyeing gemstones, fabricating pearls..." He flipped through the book with eager anticipation. "It's just amazing!"

"Wow! He must have been rich!"

"Yeah, except...it doesn't seem like most of his work actually succeeded."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, it looks like most of it was speculation and trying to find the specific formulas he was looking for. There are plenty of places where he describes what didn't work...but maybe I can pick up where he left off?"

"Maybe." Astrid brushed his hair out his eyes as he stared at the book. "Is your face better?"

He snorted and looked at her. "My face is fine."

"Good." She stood and began walking away. "Let's go swimming then!"

"And how exactly does 'my face being okay' equal 'going swimming'?" But he still followed her.

"Well, do you want to go swimming?"

"I mean, I guess..."

"There we go then!"

Toothless saw them strolling off, and quickly ran after them. He came up first to Hiccup, then Astrid, and both greeted him.

"Hey Toothless." Astrid gave him a scratch by the ear, prompting a satisfied grumble from the dragon. "Don't worry, we're not going anywhere without you."

After a few minutes of walking, the trio came up to a wide pool of water. Gentle ripples covered the surface, a flawed mirror that reflected a beautifully cloudy sky and the trees that framed the lake. Hiccup pulled the book from his pocket and, after a quick glance around, set it a good ways from the water's edge. Then he left his vest on top of it, and came over to the water's edge. "Ready?"

"Yeah, hold on." Astrid was just pulling her boots off. She looked up at Hiccup, who was trekking up a small mound that led up to the pond. He always swam fully clothed...and she never knew exactly why. And it wasn't just here - back at home, he only undressed behind closed doors. He wouldn't even take off his shoes in front of her. But, Hiccup had always been strange. Astrid wouldn't begrudge him one more quirk.

Soon, she was standing beside him, with the water a few feet down from where they stood. Then they both jumped, and shattered the rippling mirror together.

"Woah, hey!" Astrid yelped as Toothless followed and leapt from the same mound, splashing into the water. The dragon shook his head and began pouncing around, sending waves everywhere.

"Hey, hey bud!" Hiccup laughed as he tried to get the Night Fury to calm down. "Don't forget you have two humans in here with-"

He flinched as the freezing cold of water splashed onto his neck. Turning around, Astrid was grinning with a mischievous look.

"Oh, it's on."

With a smack at the pond's surface, he sent a barrage of water hurtling back. The two splashed around the pond, chasing each other, while Toothless swam around on his own. The other dragons kept vigil in the treetops and the sky above.

A while later - a few minutes or hours, it was hard to tell- a squawking interrupted them.

"Hm, what?"

Hiccup's arms froze as he turned around. A Terrible Terror beat its wings in the air behind him. A note was tied around its leg. Dragon mail, another invention of his.

"Oh not right now, I'm busy. Home." He pointed back in the direction of the village. "Home!"

With a frustrated cry, the tiny dragon turned and flew off. Hiccup turned back just in time to get a faceful of water.

"Hey, no fair!" He splashed back. "I was distracted."

"Not my fault!"

Astrid loved him when he was like this: playful, light-hearted. The Emperor of Berk was nowhere to be seen. She only wished they had more times together like this.

As this ran through her head, she saw Toothless swimming up behind him, an impish look on his face. Astrid got his message.

"Woah woah, alright." She put out her hands, pretending to catch her breath. "Okay, I think I'm tired out."

"Aw, so soon?" Hiccup shrugged. "You usually never admit defeat."

"Oh, I don't know if I'm doing that." With a grin, she gave a pointed glance behind Hiccup.

He turned to see Toothless with his wings up, ready to strike the water. Astrid could see his shoulders slump.

"Oh come on."


	10. A New Life on Carlhorse

_I'm currently looking for beta readers for this story. Is anyone interested? If so, give me a message!_

* * *

><p>Hans woke up on a third bed in as many days. Groaning, he rubbed his eyes, then put his feet on the floor, still massaging his face. He had hardly slept, with his mind flitting between too many issues. The room was lit in a cold morning light, and serenaded by birdsong, as if that would lift his spirits.<p>

Wait...not birdsong.

Slowly pushing the window open, Hans saw four small dragons outside, each the size of a cat, sitting on the fence and chirping to each other.

With a loud growl, he threw on his new brown cloak and left the bedroom, entering the sitting area. Governor Waltheson was in a chair, holding a cup in one hand. His son Peter was in his lap, reading a book aloud to his father.

"...and she could not stop from asking where the bear-like beast was. 'You see him here', said the Viking. 'I had been condemned to remain under that foul shape until one should love me. You were the only one in the world whose passion could find the goodness in me, and in giving you my crown I cannot fulfill the...'"

Here Peter paused, and his brow furrowed. He looked at his father and pointed in the book. The governor peered closer.

" 'Obligations.' Those are things you _have_ to do."

"Ah." He resumed the story now. "'...discharge the obligations I have to you.' And so they lived the rest of their days together, in that isle east of the sun and west of the moon."

"Very good, Peter." Waltheson clapped his son on the back, prompting a proud grin from the boy. "You take some bread with you, and go play now."

As Peter followed these instructions, the governor finally turned his attention to Hans.

"And good morning to you!" He smiled and raised his drink. "The first of many pleasant ones, I hope. Could I interest you in some sheep milk?" He asked while pointing at his cup.

"No, no thank you." Hans smirked as Peter ran out the door, a chunk of a loaf in his hand. "So young, and already reading?"

A nod. "He makes me proud. I started early with him, and once we became part of Greater Berk, I had even more time to devote to reading. At first it was just a matter of passing on our tribe's history, but now…" He shook his head with pride. "...if he gets good enough, he could go and work on Berk itself, with the money-counters and the scribes."

"He wouldn't inherit your title?"

"Oh no, the emperor hand-picks the governors. But I don't want that for Peter anyways: to be stuck on this island his whole life, even as governor. Why should he be surrounded by sheep when he has the chance to use his head for a living! He deserves a better life than that, better than mine." Waltheson glanced at Hans. "I must tell you, being a lettered man yourself, you could probably find excellent work on Berk too. The pay is good, and the village is far more luxurious than ours."

Hans acknowledged this, but shook his head and sighed. "That may be so, but I don't see how I can work so close to the man - the boy, who attacked our ship. I'm sorry, but I want to stay as far away from Berk as possible. Did you find anyone here in Carlhorse who could use me?"

The governor stopped taking a drink to answer. "If you absolutely insist, they're looking for a new shepherd in one of the northern fields. There are not many alternatives around here, unfortunately. Talk to Mach later today, he'll be pleased to have you. In the meantime, you can continue to stay with me and my son until you have a place of your own."

"Oh, I appreciate your offer." Hans sat down in a chair nearby. "I will not be staying very long in your home, I promise."

"Already looking for a new hut?"

"Oh no, I'm planning to save up what I earn to commission a voyage back home."

Waltheson coughed as he heard this. "Surely, that must be a joke?"

"Absolutely not." He drew back. "I must return to Kranzgrad at once, it is imperative!"

"Look, I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I know what you're going through. I don't. I was born and raised here. You, however, didn't even know our village existed a day ago, and now you're stuck here. I do realize that's very difficult. But you don't understand how difficult also it is to organize any kind of sea travel."

"How so?"

The governor sighed and set down his cup. "Well, all sea-going craft cannot leave port without permission from the emperor. It's a way to keep the seas safe and running smoothly, you see. All approved craft fly the Berkian crest atop their mast. Any that do not have that crest are considered invaders or otherwise illegal."

Hans nodded. "And those ships get blasted?"

A nod answered. "Without one of those flags, the dragons spot you, go back and raise the alarm. You won't get very far."

"Well, I have personal experience with that law. How do I obtain a flag, then?"

"As I said, explicit permission from Lord Haddock. And he doesn't just give them out, you have to detail where your route will be and what your purpose is. Getting a flag would take at least a week, probably two, and he will almost certainly reject your request anyways."

Hans fell silent for a moment. "Is there any way I can get someone to lend me one of their flags? Surely it would be impossible to tell the difference."

A scoff. "I told you, these flags don't get handed out freely; anyone who has one needs it, and will not be willing to part with it, especially since you won't be returning it. And it's not just getting a crest that you have to worry about. How far is Kranzgrad?"

"We were three weeks out when our ship was sunk."

"There we go. All of our ships are only made to travel ten days on the open sea, at most. Constructing a craft large enough to make the voyage would not only cost time and money - resources we don't have at the moment - but would also draw the emperor's attention, which we don't need." He settled back in his seat, and picked up his drink again. "What I recommend is for you to make the best of your situation. You can have a very secure and prosperous life here, once you settle in."

Hans was growing more and more impatient. "I can't exactly leave Kranzgrad behind me."

"Why not?"

"Because they will follow me." He pointed out the window. "I was part of the first of a series of expeditions. We were due to come back a month from two days ago. When we do not return to port, questions will be raised. They will send out more men, possibly even a small army. And since they won't have a Berkian crest, what happens to them?"

Waltheson was silent for a moment, as he rested his hand on his chin. "All I can recommend is to seek an audience with Lord Haddock, and tell him the situation. He may understand."

"He _may_?"

"I cannot give you any more advice than that. There is nothing I can do."

Hans buried his head in his hands, grabbing his hair. "God, that kid and his infernal dragons!"

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Hans was repeating his spiel to Mach, both of them standing far in the grassy fields, as they kept watch over the sheep.<p>

"Trust me, you're not the only one unhappy with the Dragon Overlord." Mach muttered as he kept an eye on the flocks. "I know the governor says that things are better now, and in several ways they are. But at the same time, Lord Haddock wields an iron fist, and there is little comfort in knowing how powerless we are to stop him if his mood sours."

"We have to do something. _I_ have to do something, I can't sit back and wait for more of my countrymen to sail in here and meet their own demise. And I know I can't rely on the emperor, how would I persuade him? Appeal to the goodness of his heart?"

"There is nothing to do. As much as I and others may resent his rule, we have to stay silent about it. Lord Haddock doesn't take criticism well."

Hans didn't reply. He was watching, in the far distance, a pair of two-legged dragons - Nadders, was that their name? - chasing each other, nipping at each other's tails. One would take a playful snap at the other's spikes, then turn and sprint away as its partner gave pursuit.

Finally he spoke again. "They MUST fly a far ways from Berk, just to come and play here."

"Possibly. More than likely, though, they come from one of the other nests. The emperor's tamed almost every one of them in the archipelago, and even started a few of his own. It's a way to keep his reach wide across the islands. He normally only employs the nest on Berk, but if he were to amass every dragon together, he would have a flock of hundreds, maybe thousands. No one knows for sure."

They watched the two Nadders play some more. The reptiles dashed past the sheep, which gathered closer together but otherwise did not acknowledge their proximity.

Mach followed Hans' eye. "Ah, hard to believe isn't it? Dragons, being so happy and friendly like that."

Hans pointed. "Not two days ago...one of those nearly impaled me with its spikes."

"Yeah, they're cheerful enough - until someone provokes them." Now the Nadders were facing each other, bobbing their heads in time, still full of playful energy. "The second you hurt them - or the second Lord Haddock points at you and labels you 'bad' - they turn nasty."

"I can only imagine how they would react if the emperor himself were injured."

"You don't have to imagine. He told us very plainly when he first came here." Mach spoke with a bitter smirk. "The second someone kills him, not only can the assassin look forward to a very messy death, but so can the nearest village and everyone inside. They're trained and everything. Honestly, it's a brilliant move. A man sacrifices himself to kill the emperor, he's a hero. A man sacrifices himself and the people he fights for in the first place...he's much, much less of a hero."

Hans shook his head, and spoke with a grave voice. "In Kranzgrad, we don't have this. We don't have authority so concentrated like this. We do have a king, but he answers to a body that we elect. They constantly vie for superiority, and so neither of them get it. But this...I must beg your pardon, but what you live under here is barbaric. To have one man - a boy," he corrected himself again, "possess the ability to condemn hundreds is terrifying to imagine. Even if he considers his intentions noble, if he holds that much power, he can only evolve into a monster."

Mach nodded. "Welcome to the waiting game that is Greater Berk." He suddenly noticed something in the distance and pointed. "Hey, get that sheep back over to the flock here."


	11. Audience With the Emperor

After a hearty few days in the woods, Astrid stepped back into Berk, with Hiccup and Toothless right behind her. The view from the docks was wondrous: the wooden platforms reached across the shining blue water, and lead to a paved ramp that reached and twisted up the cliffside to the village above. The old timber structures had been torn down long ago, and their dignified replacements stood sturdy and sure. Traffic climbed up and down, from the docks to the village and back again, as people went on about their business. Of course, they were more than happy to step out of the way of the emperor.

Astrid was carrying one of the baskets slung over her back, talking with Hiccup as he carried the other, when they reached the top of the incline and a familiar face came jogging to them.

"Fishlegs!" Hiccup acknowledged him as he stopped, and set the basket down. "What's going on?"

"I just heard you were back." Fishlegs gave a quick nod to them both, never looking Hiccup in the eye. "The Berserkers were early with their levy. It's been counted out, everything's in order and in the treasury."

"Huh, trying to get on my good side?" Hiccup chuckled and folded his arms, glancing across the ocean. "Any other news?"

"Everything else has been running smoothly. All trade has been coming and going on schedule, no fraud of any kind. Sir." He added this last word in a hurry.

"Great! It seems that Berk has been in good hands while I was gone." Hiccup clapped his hand onto Fishleg's shoulder, and Astrid noticed that the latter stiffened. "You were always one of the sharper minds on the island. Thank you, for keeping things going so smoothly." But with the compliment came paired a piercing gaze that gave just the slightest atmosphere of distrust, as if Hiccup was scanning him for anything suspicious.

Fishlegs finally spoke again. "Yeah, yeah. Well, it wasn't a big deal, really. Here, the trade reports, and the treasury accounts from an hour ago." He handed a stack of papers to Hiccup, who began to shuffle through them, his eyes running down the page at a rapid pace. Astrid looked and saw numbers, organized into intricate and yet extremely readable charts. These numbers represented bags of gold, cartfuls of metal, barrels of fish, entire ships of goods that flowed in and out of Berk on a daily basis. The very heart of the empire was laid bare upon these reports, and was held in Hiccup's hands.

"Oh, and don't forget, you are going to be holding audience today."

Hiccup groaned and leaned his head back. "That's right, I was. Ugh, great. Here." He thrust the papers back at Fishlegs. "Stop by later, we'll go over levies and duties together."

"Yes sir." Taking his cue, Fishlegs turned and dashed away. Hiccup turned to Astrid.

"Looks like vacation really is over." With a scoff, he picked up the basket again.

"Oh no, I'll get it." Astrid set down her own load and took it from him. "You go get done what you need to, I'll get everything unpacked."

"Are you sure?" Astrid gave him a look. "Alright, alright, you're sure!" He tossed his hands up in defeat. "I'll go, I'll go. Gotta go see what everyone has to complain about today."

"It won't be that bad. Just stay calm," she took his cheek in her hand, "and be nice."

* * *

><p>The doors of the Great Hall swung open into a large space, where the only objects of note were a long table and two chairs. One chair was wooden and crude, and because of a short fourth leg tended to wobble. The other gleamed with polished wood, inset golden lettering, and a few choice gems. It was in this second chair that Hiccup now sat. Behind him, the fire pit roared with flames, and above him the roof opened to the sky, allowing dragons to swoop in and out as they pleased. Toothless curled up beside him, watching the doors with keen interest. Hiccup yelled now.<p>

"Alright, who's first?"

At this, the two twins entered. Hiccup sat forward, drumming his fingers on the table with anticipation.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, glad to have you back. Please, tell me you had some success at last."

The twins came up to the chair, and Tuffnut sat down.

"Hey, ladies first!" Ruffnut shoved him out of the seat.

"Uh, equal treatment, hello?!" Tuffnut got back to his feet and retaliated.

As their conflict escalated, Hiccup gave an exasperated look to Toothless. The dragon glanced at the twins as they continued to wage war over the prized chair, and looked back to Hiccup with a mixture of amusement and pity. _Not my problem_, he seemed to say.

"Uh, guys? Your news?"

Hiccup tried to interject, to no success. Finally his patience wore out.

"ENOUGH!"

He slammed his fist on the table, prompting the twins to freeze where they were - Ruffnut had been trying to wrench off her brother's ears, and Tuffnut had been trying to pull off his sister's braids. Now they both looked at Hiccup. They normally didn't fear much, but they had seen enough to know that they were testing dangerous waters.

The twins quickly assumed formal positions. "Uh, sorry about that," Tuffnut began. "It's just sometimes that, you know, Ruffnut gets so pushy."

"I get pushy?" She rounded on him again. "Maybe next time, you don't take the only chair!"

"Hey, you got the chair last time, so it's only fair that-"

Hiccup cleared his throat and crossed his arms, giving them a glare that practically dared them to continue. The Night Fury also, while not angry, did seem rather annoyed. This motivated Tuffnut to finally begin.

"Right! So, the Holy Roman Empire. Lovely place. Good food, good people, good food. You've gotta try some of these sandwiches, it's the best! I mean, this Hamburg town was absolutely-"

"Did you secure an alliance with their emperor, though?"

"Uhhhh…yeah, about that, I'll let my sister handle that."

Ruffnut elbowed him for putting her in the spotlight, but still spoke up. "He keeps saying he won't sign any kind of deal unless you agree to teach him the secret of training dragons."

"Still going on about that, huh?" Hiccup sighed. "Well, he's going to be sorely disappointed."

"I know, that's what we told him! But he kept insisting, and he finally kicked us out of Hamburg."

"Now I will never taste those wonderful sandwiches again." Tuffnut looked down in dejection.

"Hey, you did all right." Hiccup leaned forward and clasped his hands. "I'll just have to talk to him myself, see what we can agree to. How's everything else in the world of diplomacy?"

"Everything else is fine." Ruffnut seemed relieved to get on to good news. "None of the governors have any complaints, everything's quiet. Do you have anything you'd like us to deliver, any messages?"

"No, no not right now. Check back later, though, we'll see if anything's changed. You're dismissed."

As the twins turned and left, Hiccup stared after them. They may not have been the brightest pair, but in a way that worked in his favor - he never had to worry about them secretly conspiring against him. And even in formal diplomatic work, they could easily deliver the mantra of "peace by submission".

With dragons on his side, Hiccup found world politics infinitely easier to deal with.

"Next!"

A woman came in now, glancing around with plain fear on her face. She caught Hiccup's eye and froze.

"Come here." He beckoned her forward. "What do you want?"

She stepped toward him, visibly trembling, and bent her head down. "Lord Haddock, I come from the Isle of Dalf. And I humbly request a gift of gold for my village, so that we may purchase the timber needed for the construction of new homes. A rockslide has destroyed many houses, and we unfortunately do not have enough wood to rebuild in time for winter. We have no trees on our island, and we fear that many shall perish when the snow comes. Please, I beg of you my lord, show your mercy and we shall be very grateful."

Hiccup nodded slowly as he listened. "How much are you asking for?"

"Anything." The desperation was painfully obvious in her voice. "Anything at all!"

Hiccup reached for his sleeve and unbuttoned a flap, revealing a set of pages bound in leather. Taking a pencil from another pocket in his armor, he began writing on the paper.

"Dalf...gold...houses." He buttoned the hidden book back up, and set down the pencil. "I will speak to my economic advisor about it, and see what can be done. You are dismissed."

"Oh, thank you, thank you my lord! Thank you!" Looking as if she were about to cry from the relief, she turned and went swiftly through the doors.

"Next!"

Now came three men, two with swords. Hiccup sat up straighter as the third man was hauled inside, bound in chains. The other two had to practically drag him across the floor.

"No, no! By Odin's beard, please no! No!"

Hiccup realized how much despair the man was feeling - and that it was inspired by himself. He bit his lip and looked away, trying to train his ears not to hear the desperate cries.

"Lord Haddock!" One of the swordsmen stepped forward, while his partner forced the prisoner to his knees and held him at swordpoint. "This man has been convicted of murder by the people of Fullenhorf Island! In accordance with the Berkian Code, he has been sentenced to face your mercy and wrath. Have done with him as you please."

"Oh Thor, oh gods no…."

Hiccup stood and slowly walked around the table. The sound of his feet hitting the floor was the only sound other than the man's sobs. He looked down at the prisoner's bent head, trembling like a tree about to struck down with a final axe-blow. Then he suddenly turned to the swordsmen.

"What did he do?"

The abrupt attention of the emperor shook the soldier, but he quickly recovered his demeanor. "He had a quarrel with a neighbor, over which of them owned a sheep. In the middle of the night, he slipped poison into the neighbor's water-"

"Please, by Thor, I was drunk! I'm sorry, I would never do such a thing!"

"And yet you _did _do it." The soldier glared down harshly, then back at Hiccup. "The neighbor did not live alone though. He had a family, two children and a third infant. The infant was thirsty, and when the baby tasted the water, he fell dead by sunrise."

"No, no, by the gods, I'm sorry!" He shook the chains, trying to break free. Tears poured down his face, warped in grief. "I never meant to kill a child! I'm not a murderer, I'm not!"

"Your own fellows have stated otherwise!" The swordsman yelled, sending the prisoner into silence again. "Lord Haddock, he awaits your judgment."

Hiccup's pity had quickly turned into revulsion. He knelt to the ground and forced the man to look him in the eyes. "You killed a baby. I hope you feel disgusted with yourself."

"Please, I...I was drunk...and even then, I would _never..._I would do anything to take it back, I swear! Please, have mercy."

Hiccup roughly threw the prisoner's head back, and stood up. He looked at the two swordsmen.

"Let him go."

The soldiers dropped the chain, and the emperor gestured them back. The man stayed kneeling on the floor, watching as Hiccup walked back to his chair. Now he stopped by the Night Fury, and spoke to it, signing as he talked. The dragon's eyes narrowed, and began to glare at the prisoner.

"No...no no no no! Odin's Beard, don't let it at me! Please, by Thor, have mercy my lord!"

Hiccup looked up, his face stone. "A life for a life is a fair exchange!" Then he said one more thing to the Night Fury, and turned to sit.

At this same instant, the black dragon screeched and leapt upon the table, making it tremble. The two swordsmen dived aside in fear. The Night Fury halted at the edge of the table, spreading its wings to present a fearsome image. The man in chains lost all ability to yell as the dragon opened its mouth, let out a high-pitched scream, and hit him in the chest with a blast that left the room choked in smoke.

The two swordsmen coughed as the air cleared, and getting to their feet found the dead body of the prisoner lying several feet back from where he had been kneeling.

"He's yours to keep, do whatever you want with him now." Hiccup waved them away. "You are dismissed."

Hiccup could hear the gasps from people outside as the two swordsmen dragged the body away. Toothless came back over by his chair, grumbling.

"Hey, you did good bud." He laid his hand on the dragon's snout. "He was a bad man, and what he did was…horrible. Just horrible." Shaking his head, he called out in a weary voice: "Next!"

A thin man walked in, clearly shaken up from the ruckus before him and the aftermath that had been carried past him. He eyeballed Toothless as he spoke.

"Lord Haddock, I am from the Island of Yulrolan, and we need your immediate presence to intervene in a conflict that will soon destroy us."

"Yulrolan...southeast, small little community, kind of on the fringes, right? One of the nests nearby?"

"Yes my lord."

"Hm, the Bewilderbeasts are rather tricky to deal with. I will come within a few days and handle the situation. Thank you, you are-"

"No, you don't understand. There seems to be someone, or even multiple people, trying to stir up trouble deliberately."

Hiccup nodded. "I see..."

"Even now the battle rages, and the dragons are only growing more aggressive towards us. We entreat you to come at once!"

"Alright, alright." The emperor rubbed his temples and groaned. "Wait in here, and after I get done with everyone else, I'll fly you back to Yulrolan. I've just got a lot to do, but then I'll deal with this, I promise."

The man from Yulrolan nodded. "Yes, of course. Thank you, my lord." He shuffled to side, still keeping an eye on Toothless, who watched him with curiosity.

Hiccup sighed to himself. "Just have to let Astrid know that I'm going to be leaving." He looked back to the door and called out: "Next!"


	12. The Plan

"-called on me to read, I knew all the words. And then after class, he told me that I was doing the best out of everyone!"

Hans came in as Peter and his father were sitting at the table, sharing a meal of cod. Seeing a third plate set for him, he set his crook against the wall and sat down, untying the strings that held his cloak around his neck. The meat was warm in his fingers as he ate. Waltheson, meanwhile, was engrossed in his son's tale.

"That's fantastic! Best in the class, I'm so proud." He grinned at Peter, then Hans, and back again.

"I just wish everything we read didn't have to do with sheep. It gets boring after a while, I like our stories at home better."

"I know, I prefer them too. But still, the academy's not a bad place, is it?" An eager shake of the head from Peter. "That's right, you learn about reading and writing, arithmetic, geography, all very important. And if you keep up the hard work, you could end up on Berk itself."

Peter looked down, his eyes showing that he was daydreaming. "Maybe I could work for the emperor? I'm good at reading, I could work in the library, writing out books."

"I think you could do that very thing, if you really wanted to." Again, he flashed a grin at Hans, and proceeded to take a bite from his meal.

Hans wiped his mouth with a napkin before he spoke. "Your academy sounds fascinating, Peter! You know, we have places like it back in Kranzgrad."

"Really?" The boy immediately perked up, his curiosity aroused.

"Oh yes. Academies of all kinds, throughout the city. There are schools dedicated to the arts, like painting, sculptures, calligraphy-"

"A whole academy just for art?!"

"Indeed! And you have schools for the sciences, for trade, and for warriors. And the best students from each school are invited to attend the Royal University, where they learn rhetoric, languages, philosophy, quadrivium. I went there myself, that's where I learned cartography." He smiled at the incredulous look on Peter's face. "It's a fantastic place, founded on the very roots of classical education; the pride of the city,I'd say."

Hans nodded as he reveled in the memory, and looked down at his plate. He fell into silence as Waltheson got Peter's attention again, asking what he had done after school. The boy answered with enthusiasm - today, it seemed all the kids had decided to build two play forts from stone, and had proceeded to engage in an epic battle of mud throwing.

"I was mostly just making a few mudballs for the others to throw. Linda pelted Gustave in the face, and he got furious! Then when he was turned, I did throw one, and it hit him, and he didn't even see that it was me!"

Hans looked over at this, and then seemed to retreat back into his own thoughts. Peter finished his story, describing his faction's glorious victory in the mud war, after which they had watched a Monstrous Nightmare try to fight off an annoying pack of Terrible Terrors. Hans only kept half an ear on it, instead focusing on an idea he had begun to hatch…

"Hans?"

Hans was snapped back into the present by the governor's interruption. "Yes, sorry?"

"How was your day? Oh, and please, help yourself to more cod, there's plenty."

"Thank you, I always did have a penchant for fish." Hans picked another helping from the platter in the middle. "And the fields were quiet, nothing really worth reporting."

"Well, no news is better than bad news, that's what I say." He took another bite.

"I was wondering, though, how clever are the dragons?"

The governor gave a small cough, and looked sharply at Hans until he finished chewing. "They're clever enough. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious."

Waltheson nodded slowly. "Anything else you're curious about?"

Hans thought for a moment. "How close is Lord Haddock to the dragons, exactly?"

The governor was silent and still. Then he looked at Peter, who was watching intently.

"Do you have any homework, Peter?"

"Just copying some words for spelling."

"Go in your room and get that done." Peter cleared his place and retreated down the hallway. Once the door closed, Waltheson spoke with a low voice. "What are you getting at? You seem very interested in the emperor and the dragons, beyond common curiosity."

Hans took a deep breath, and decided to plunge forward. "I have to get home, that is my most important goal right now."

"Look, I know you're homesick. But please be reasonable, we already talked-"

"But at the same time," Hans pressed on, cutting off the governor, "I'm very worried about what will happen to Kranzgrad in the future. Lord Haddock acts unopposed, and his reach has grown far in such a short time. What will happen when he goes far enough east, and finds us? Even if I could leave, I've come to realize that it would only be a matter of time before the dragons of Berk land on our shores. I can't bear to imagine what would happen to my home when that happens."

"You can't?" The governor stood up, his face austere but not angry. "Follow me."

He stepped out the door, and Hans followed him. They wound past the granary, the great hall, the storehouse, and dozens of houses, all the time going uphill. Finally they reached the summit of the gentle grassy slope, no other people in sight, and Waltheson turned around.

"Look."

He gestured with his hand, and showed Carlhorse in its entirety. Lights showed in the windows of every building, and smoke rose from every chimney. In the distance the setting sun gleamed gold on the ocean, and the sky was gilt pink.

"It's beautiful…" Hans reveled in the sight.

"I know, this view has been my favorite since I was a boy, when my father was chief and I was next in line." He stared at the view, his voice soft. "Back then, though, I didn't know if I was going to get the chance. Between the dragons and the raiders, our village only ever got worse and worse off. Hope seemed to grow ever further away. And when the raiders took Peter's mother and sister, they took away not only two of the most precious things in my life, but also any thought that things could get better…"

He choked and put his hand over his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I am very, very grateful that this view is still here to share with you, especially now that it may be shared in peace. It would not be here, if it wasn't for Lord Haddock. And even beyond our survival - that academy, that means so much to Peter? We only managed to open that because the emperor personally provided the funds and materials. You wonder what Kranzgrad would be like under him? It would be like Carlhorse - safer, more prosperous."

"And living in fear." Hans rounded on him. "Governor, I know that you feel obligated to him, but it doesn't change that he's dangerous! The other day, when he gave you a reprieve on your debt, what if he hadn't done that? What if he had demanded what you owed him? What would have happened to Carlhorse?"

"He could have done that, but he didn't. You can ask 'what if', but it doesn't change what is. And before you say anything else, know that I will not participate in your plan."

"My plan?"

The governor looked over with derision. "Do not take me for a fool, Hans. You fear the rule of Lord Haddock, and ask me about the dragons and their relationship to him? It doesn't take a mastermind to figure out that you are looking to turn yourself into an assassin. And I will not stand for it."

Hans was startled to have his goal so suddenly exposed. "You don't understand, I have a foolproof plan."

"No, the second you pierce his armor, the dragons will tear us to pieces. It's out of the question, I will not allow it."

"Just hear me out, please." Hans waited, and the governor's expectant silence made him continue. "If someone kills the emperor, the dragons are trained to immediately attack the nearest village, right?"

"That's correct, it's like an extension of the dragon hive-mind - they attack anyone who threatens their alpha, or who they perceive as threatening their alpha. Actually killing their alpha would cause a massive retaliation. And that's why you will not be carrying out any assassinations anywhere near Kranzgrad."

"I realize that. But now, what if the emperor were to just die? As in, from an illness, or from an accident? Would it trigger the same response?"

The governor thought. "Well...I suppose Lord Haddock would not want Berk destroyed in the event of his peaceful death, especially since he would want to leave it to an heir. But simply waiting for him to die will not accomplish anything, unless you know how to force him to fall ill?"

"No, but...when I was in university, I went to a metallurgy demonstration, and they showed us a substance called blast powder."

"Blast powder?"

"Yes, just a small amount was enough to destroy a large box. All you do is touch fire to it, and it creates a massive blast - not unlike what a dragon could do. If we were to make enough blast powder, and leave it to explode without any other people nearby, it could successfully kill Lord Haddock, and with no immediate murderer, the dragons would not attack. It could work!"

But Waltheson was already shaking his head. "You don't know that for certain. What if they do make that connection, and come after us?"

"Oh, now you like 'what if' questions?"

"And even if you succeed, what then? What will happen to Carlhorse, to Berk? What will the dragons do without their leader to control them? What will other villages do without Lord Haddock there to stop them? Someone will try to fill his place, and war will erupt. You could leave us worse off than we were before!"

"You're right." Hans spoke with determination. "I don't know what will happen afterwards. Things could end up badly, like you warn, or they may end up for the better. But what I do know is that as long as Lord Haddock lives, he threatens my home and hundreds of other people's homes as well. I could not live contently knowing that that very contentment is at the whim of a twenty-year-old boy. And to be honest, I don't know how you can manage to do that."

The governor glared at him. "I do what is best for my people. And right now, they are being fed, housed, and clothed, with a bright future ahead. For that, I am more than willing to deal with Lord Haddock."

With a frustrated growl, Hans stormed away. "I give up! You are more stubborn than an infant! Go on, then, kneel to to your precious emperor for the rest of your life! But when he turns on you and feeds you to his reptiles, we will see who is right!" He marched down the grassy slope, away from the village.

* * *

><p>Hans spent the night sitting on a cliffside, looking to the east. The stars spun across the sky in their frozen dance, slowly dragging the waxing moon up with them. The waves crashed far below his feet as he rested his head on his knees. Dragons swooped by in the dark, lit by the moonlight. One landed nearby him, seemed to cock its head in intrigue, then stroll away inland. Hans' eyes kept watching the horizon. It faded to grey, then yellow. The moon was sitting at its zenith when the sun finally peeped up, making Hans squint against its light.<p>

"Somewhere over the water, huh?"

Hans turned around and saw Mach coming towards him.

"The governor got worried when you didn't return last night, he asked a few of us to help find you. Said you two had an argument?"

"Yes. Yes, I...became impatient with him." Hans sighed as Mach set next to him on the cool grass. "Mach, I've got to get home. As soon as humanly possible."

"I know, before they send a fleet after you."

"Not just that, I…" He looked across the water again. "I have something else, that requires my attention."

Mach nodded slowly, and Hans realized he was waiting for elaboration - elaboration he was not comfortable giving at the moment. Finally Mach prodded: "Is that what the argument was about?"

"In a way. I had a plan that would let me get home and stay there without worrying about Lord Haddock following me there in a year's time. I could free the entirety of Greater Berk, if I just had the chance."

"You mean killing him? You want to kill the emperor?"

"Yes, but with a method that would not make the dragons think someone killed him, so that they wouldn't attack us. And before you say anything, I know that the emperor's brought so much peace and goodness, at least according to Waltheson. Still, I just can't bear to think about what would happen if he flew into Kranzgrad."

Mach thought this over for a while. "You really love your home, don't you?"

"More than anything." Hans sighed as he summoned the memories. "We're not a large kingdom, but we command great respect in our region. We pride ourselves as a refuge: we take in the lost and the unwanted, and make them into something great. Artists, philosophers, great minds flock to our gates. My favorite spot in the whole city is the market square - bakers, florists, carpenters all together. The smells, the sounds of it! And you'll have painters sitting here and there, and sometimes someone from the university will come and deliver a lecture for people to hear. I sometimes just drift along for hours and take it all in, and I would…" He bit his lip. "I'm very glad I did, for I may never see it again."

Mach nodded again. "What exactly are you planning?"

All the abrupt subject changes kept putting him off, but he still answered. "Well, I was looking to create a large amount of blast powder - it's an explosive substance - seal it in a barrel, and have it go off when the emperor is close by. That way, no one person will be connected to it, and the dragons would not tear them or the island apart."

"Fight fire with fire? How poetic, perhaps it will become a saying one day." Mach glanced over. "What do we need for it?"

Hans looked up in surprise. "Wait, you mean...you will help me with this?"

"The emperor may be pretty popular around here, but I've always been wary of him. Let's just say you've opened up to the right person." With a smile, he continued. "Now, what do we need to make this blast powder?"

"Let's see, let's see…" Hans got to his feet, his face scrunched up as he tried to remember. "We need charcoal, sulfur, and niter, lots of all three."

"We can get charcoal easily. Sulfur and niter, Trader Johann probably sells them. He goes from island to island, buying and selling almost anything you can think of. He's coming into port today, we can meet him there!"

Both of them ran over the hills back to town.


	13. A Day in the Life of the Queen

Astrid awoke to a reptilian chirp. Sitting up in bed, she saw a Terrible Terror pattering over the covers towards her. A note was tied to its leg with thread.

"Hey," she rubbed her eyes, "you got something for me?"

She undid the knot and took the paper. The Terrible Terror gave a squawk, then turned and scurried away.

Shaking her head to clear it, Astrid unfolded the note and read:

_Astrid,_

_The situation near Yulrolan is more severe than I thought, and I will be here for a longer while. Don't worry though; I don't anticipate the situation getting any worse, as long as I deal with it now. Everything is under control._

_Unfortunately, I will miss Johann's visit to Berk, and that's why I'm writing this to you. I've become fascinated with the metallurgy and transmutation book, and I'd like to make some of the compounds it describes. To do so, I need supplies of sulfur, copper, mercury, and lead. Johann, I believe, sells these from his ship._

_Also, I'd appreciate it if you could get some extra leather. My flight suit was damaged today, and while I've managed to patch it for the moment, I'll need to do a more thorough job at home. _

_I will be very grateful if you can get these for me, and I should be back within the week. In the meantime, I leave Berk in your care. I can think of no one better to watch over things when I'm away. _

_Love, __Hiccup_

* * *

><p>"Did he say how much?" Johann nodded his head as Astrid ran through the list of items. His trade ship gently rocked beneath their feet.<p>

"Not exactly, but just remember I have to carry whatever you give me all the way back."

"Very strange, quite an unusual request…"

"Do you have these?"

"Oh yes, yes, of course I do!" Johann sharply nodded his head. "I mean, it's just rare for anyone to ask for these substances all at once. But here, I'll go and get them for you."

He turned and walked across the deck, and began rummaging through a chest. Astrid, meanwhile, took a look around. Items of all varieties were scattered every which way. She poked around a bit, searching for anything that she might consider appealing. As she walked from pile to pile, other potential customers quickly caught sight of her and moved away. No one breathed so much as a word of greeting; at most, they muttered a hasty "excuse me" as they slipped past. And always, their eyes were watching, wary.

Astrid tried her best to ignore them and pretend that all was well.

As she pulled out several large sheets of leather from underneath a stack of woven cloths, Johann came back to her. "Here we go. Five small ingots each of copper and lead in here," he held out one of three small sacks, "two jars of mercury, and this is all the sulfur I have left."

The bag of sulfur felt a little light. Johann must have seen the surprised expression on Astrid's face.

"I realize it's not very much, but I had a pair of customers in Carlhorse almost clear me out. I'm very lucky to have anything left for you!"

"Well, some is better than none." Astrid gave a small smile as she slung the three sacks over her shoulder. "Oh, and I wanted to buy some of this as well." She held up the leather.

"Okay, let's see, for the three bags and this…" She could see Johann's eyes work in a frenzy of calculation. "Ten coins?"

Astrid had a vague sense that what she was carrying was worth far more than that, but she didn't feel up to any kind of confrontation with Johann at the moment. She counted out the payment, and was about to leave when she paused.

"Oh! I almost forgot, I need new boots. Mine are starting to wear out on the soles."

"Clothing is below deck. I'll bring them up so that you can see them."

"Oh no, I'll just head down there myself. Keep an eye on these, could you?" Setting down her already purchased goods, Astrid clambered down into the ship's hold.

It took her a while to locate a pair of boots that fit, but eventually she found some that were comfortable and hardy. Just as she was approaching the steps that led back up to the deck, a voice sounded that she hadn't heard in a long time.

"Johann! Johann, where do you have the seeds? You usually have them right here."

Astrid bounded up the stairs and looked over. "Snotlout?!"

He turned around suddenly at his name. Seeing Astrid, his face hardened, and he turned and skulked back onto the docks.

"Snotlout, wait!" Forgetting her things, Astrid ran after him.

He kept ignoring her.

"Hey, hold on, Snotlout!" She jogged up until she stood right in his path.

Finding his way barred, he finally answered shortly. "What? What do you want?"

"Nothing, I just…I haven't seen you in a long time."

"Did it ever occur to you that it was on purpose?" With an annoyed huff, Snotlout tried to walk around Astrid. She blocked his path again.

"You've been avoiding me?" Even though she already knew the answer to the question.

"Astrid, we live on the same island. If you haven't seen me in five years, then there's a pretty good chance I was avoiding you." Once more he tried to go past her, and once more she cut him off.

"What's the matter with you?!" Astrid was upset now. "All I want to do is talk!"

"You know what? Fine. Let's talk." Snotlout eyeballed her with contempt. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well…" She grasped for a topic. "How have you been? I tried asking the twins and Fishlegs, but apparently they haven't heard much from you either."

"I've been taking care of my mom. We moved to the other side of the mountain, and we're growing rye and cabbages to support ourselves." He laced his words with venom. "I'm all she has left, you know, since your boyfriend killed my dad."

Astrid closed her eyes at this blow, and swallowed hard. "Snotlout, listen, I'm so sorry about what happened-"

"That doesn't bring him back, does it?!" His raised voice began to draw onlookers, both excited and horrified to watch this exchange going on. "I don't want your pity, Astrid. Not when you're up there, loving on the same guy who ordered his dragons to tear my dad apart!"

"I tried to stop it!" Astrid was indignant at the accusations he had leveled against her. "I did what I could."

Snotlout didn't reply, only casting a disgusted look away.

"Don't take this out on me, please. I didn't want your dad hurt-"

"I don't care what you wanted, it doesn't change the fact that he's dead! Maybe if _you _had spoken up a bit more-"

"Will you stop being stupid? I did speak up, more than you did anyways! And besides, it was your dad who pushed him over the edge! Maybe, if your dad hadn't been provoking Hiccup, then maybe he'd be alive!"

Even as the words left her mouth, Astrid cringed at them.

"Mhm, yes, I forgot. Making fun of Hiccup now carries a death sentence. Thank you for your insight." Snotlout shoved his way past her. "And you wonder why I didn't want to talk to you."

"No, Snotlout, wait, please!" She grabbed his arm, and he tore it away.

"Just leave me alone, alright?!" His eyes burned with pain, and there was just the slightest quaver in his voice. "Go away, just go!"

"No, please, it's not what you think, I don't-"

"I don't care what you say. I don't care what you do." He turned his back to her. "In fact, for all it matters to me, go and complain to your boyfriend, tell him how rude I was! I'll be in my house, waiting for the roof to burst into flames, whenever you two are ready!"

Astrid gave up, and watched as he walked away, steaming. She shook her head and whispered the rest of her sentence:

"I don't want this."

* * *

><p>After regaining her composure, Astrid retrieved her purchases, handed over five coins for the boots, and carried the load home. The whole way back, Snotlout's words haunted her.<p>

"No, no," she muttered to herself, "I didn't do anything wrong. I did my best. I was the only one who didn't tease him-"

_A little harsh at times, maybe_

"-and I'm always trying to keep him calm. I'm still doing my best. He doesn't know what he's saying."

After five years of alternating between having only Hiccup's company and solitude, Astrid had mastered the art of self-conversation.

Finally reaching the hut, Astrid entered and walked up the stairs to Hiccup's room, which doubled as a workspace. In one corner stood a workbench, an anvil, and a forge, along with an assortment of tools. Beside the workbench sat a bookshelf, and beside that a desk and chair, the former cluttered with papers and books. At the opposite end of the room was Hiccup's bed and all his other personal belongings. The walls were plastered with designs, drawings, and doodles, covering up more wall space than was showing.

Astrid set the bags on the workbench and removed the substances from inside. Ten small ingots, five a brilliant metallic brown and five a dull grey. Two jars, filled with liquid silver. Several rough blocks of yellow, with a strange smell to them.

"Well, I got you what you wanted." She sighed. "What you want them for, I can't guess."

After also leaving the leather on the bench, Astrid returned to the chair to slip her new boots on. Setting the old pair aside, she then turned and glanced over the desktop.

Several ledgers were stacked up, and a charcoal pencil lay beside them. Taking the first book from the stack, Astrid opened it. Suddenly she glanced up at the door. Feeling self-conscious, she rose and quietly closed it.

Returning to sit before the book, she glanced down a list of debts. There were columns for names, islands, amounts, and due dates.

"Alright, let's see, let's see…" She scanned down the list. "Ah, here we go. Bertha, from Red Island. Let's bring that down a bit…"

With a few pencil strokes, Bertha's debt was cut in half, and her time to payment was extended by a week.

"Alright, who's next?"

For a long while, Astrid pored over the list, taking the utmost care when adjusting the numbers. Every line had to be calculated to match Hiccup's handwriting exactly. As she worked, she added up how much money she was shaving off - her deception was only complete once she had recompensed the imperial treasury, from her own funds of course. Nothing went amiss, so nothing was ever noticed.

As for any conflicts with Fishlegs' books - ultimately, the emperor's word was final. And after all, Astrid smirked, weren't these the emperor's words? Even if they were altered ever so slightly?

Eventually, she reached the end of the list, so she closed the ledger and sighed. She had given herself a pretty sum to sneak into the treasury, but she wasn't worried. After all, she had been doing this for a few years now. It was thankless work, she knew it all too well. But if it kept a few people from jail time, at least it made it easier to face the world.

With this relief lightening her heart, Astrid, feeling curious, reached for a nearby stack of papers and shuffled through them. As she did, she found a collection of glimpses into Hiccup's mind.

Here was a sketch of a Monstrous Nightmare. The proportions were marked and labeled with care.

Now a drawing of a flower bush, apparently done for pleasure. A few illegible lines of text scrawled along the edge, probably some quick note that needed to be taken down.

Here was a design for...a prosthetic leg? Curious. The drawing was old - he must have had the idea years ago, before he left the dragon nest. He must have wanted to use it to help people…

Shaking her head, Astrid moved it to the back, and immediately blushed. Here was a sketch of her, smiling up from the paper. A small heart was penciled in above her left ear. She bit her lip and chuckled. "Oh, you…"

The rest of the papers were similar, cycling between dragons, old designs, random drawings, and two more pictures of Astrid. Words and phrases were dotted here and there, many of them nonsensical to her but apparently meaningful to Hiccup.

Finally, she looked upon the sketch of the Monstrous Nightmare again, and she set the papers down. She was just about to leave when something caught her eye.

Moving the pile had exposed, half-buried underneath another mound of papers, a letter. No, it was THE letter. Stoick's letter. Astrid recognized it by its crumpled appearance. On one side was the name "Hiccup". Taking it and flipping it over, she saw that the letter was sealed.

"Five years…and you still haven't read it?"

Her fingers itched to open it, but she hesitated. She could get away with fixing numbers in the ledgers, but Hiccup would definitely notice that the seal was broken. And while she was sure he wouldn't do anything rash towards her, Astrid realized she didn't know what this letter would say. For all she knew, it could worsen his mood - the last thing the people of Greater Berk needed.

Finally, she slipped it back under the stack of papers.

Another day, she thought to herself. When he's ready.


End file.
